Hellsing Cats 2
by catsvrsdogscatswin
Summary: I'M BACK! THIS IS NOT A REDO, THIS IS A SEQUEL! Imaginative title isn't it? Somebodies come back from the dead, but there's an itty bitty problem. She has no clue who she is, and is now more powerful than ever before. Don't read unless you've read my other fanfic first. AxOc. This is a Sequel to Hellsing Cats. (Ignore the title image, it doesn't make sense until you read it) DONE!
1. Chapter 1

_**The next part of my Hellsing Fanfic! This may be a little confusing, but it switches back and forth from time periods, depending on the character's POV. Just a friendly warning! Soarece and "Pisica" timeline is different than Integra's and the rest of them. About halfway down, the spell-check broke! So sorry if anything comes up.**_

_I turned over, my eyes closed. I hesitantly opened them a crack, and almost screamed. It was so __**bright**__. Whimpering, I closed them all the way again. I smelled burning things, and almost gagged. The stench of burned flesh and metal seemed to scour the insides of my nose, and I held my hand over it. I heard running water, and painfully sat up. It still hurt too much to try and open my eyes. So I felt around with my hand, encountering nothing but twisted shards and my own body. I crawled towards the sound, feeling the sharp edges cut into my hands and knees._

_I dipped my hand into a running stream, and sighed in relief. It eased the pain, and I slipped my whole body in. I lay there, not even counting the pass of time. My brow suddenly creased in a frown. __Why do I hurt so much?__ I lifted a hand out of the water and felt my face. I felt rough, and bumpy, and I figured that must be my open wounds, since it hurt when I touched them. My eyes felt the same, and I wondered why it hurt to open them. __**Wait… who am I? How do I know this is what they normally feel like! I can't remember anything!**_

_Unknown's POV:_

I hurt so much. The water ran over me, and I still hurt. Ideas and words floated around in my head, but I couldn't remember anything, just waking up to this pain. I slowly got up, thinking. _I can't stay here, this is a bad place._ I don't know how I knew that, but I did. I stumbled, my eyes still tightly shut against the pain. I heard voices, speaking some foreign tongue. I tried opening my eyes again, but it still hurt. I could see now, and what I saw were trees. I was standing by a stream in a forest, and the moon was far overhead. I winced and averted my eyes. Even the moons gentle light, reflecting over the surface of the water, burned my eyes with its brightness.

The voices were coming closer. I quickly scrambled up a tree, not even knowing why I did so. People passed below me, heading for a spot further up the mountain. I followed them with my eyes, and gasped when I saw the plume of smoke they were heading for. I started shaking. _FIRE_. Fire was a scary thought, for some reason. I closed my eyes, and saw leaping flames, and immediately opened them. _FIRE._ I quickly stood on the branch, feeling it sway gently in the breeze. I began jumping from tree to tree, heading away from the smoke and the all consuming thought of FIRE.

_Integra's POV:_

I took a deep pull from my cigar. It was one of the catnip ones Zara had given me, and I felt the familiar flash of pain, remembering her. It had been three _years_ since she had died, and everyone still remembered. _Especially Alucard._ I winced. He had been very, well, the only way to describe it would be _aggressive_, since she died. He still had the necklace she had always worn, and I had a shrewd guess he was the one that gave it to her.

No one ever dared to say as much to his face, however. One of the doctors had mentioned that he might want to stop being in such close contact with it, because it had such a high silver content, and he was still seeing a psychologist every week for nightmares. The others never mentioned her, because they all missed her as well. Techno was still in command, and had been rather good at it, despite the fact he was still ticking everyone off at regular intervals.

_Unknown's POV:_

I limped quietly into an alley, hoping there was some food in the dumpster. I had been in this city for an hour already. The street lights burned my eyes, so I kept them closed. _Will I ever be able to see again? _I shook my head, feeling woozy. There was someone else there, and I felt a surge of disappointment. I opened my mouth to ask for help, but the only sound I could make was a hoarse cough. She, it was a she, turned, and let out a shriek. I backed away, holding my hands out. "Get away from me, whatever you are!" she screamed, holding up a pocketknife.

I blinked. _Whatever I was?_ I tried again to talk. This time I managed an "I just want some food." although my voice was rough and raspy, like I had been strangled. She blinked, obviously not comprehending what I said. "You…talk?" I felt confused. "Why…" I broke out coughing, and she looked concerned. I tried again. "Why wouldn't I?" She raised both eyebrows sardonically. "You haven't seen a mirror lately, have you?" I shook my head. She shrugged and held out an apple. "My name's Soarece, what's yours?" she said, watching me snatch it and start eating.

I shook my head again, closing my aching eyes. "Don't know." When I had swallowed the last bite of the apple, she held out her hand. "Want to be partners?" I nodded, taking her hand and letting her shake it. "I'll call you Pisica, since you have cat eyes." I blinked. She reached into her pocket, and took out a shard of some reflective surface. I tilted it, looked at my face. I had some bad scratch marks, but they would probably heal eventually. My eyes... I jerked back. My eyes were a bright purple, with slitted cats pupils. _What am I!?_

_Soarece's POV:_

Pisica watched as I opened the door to my run down shack. I smiled at her encoragingly, seeing her caution. I had no idea who she really was, but she moved like a born thief. _Or a cat._ I thought. I pushed open the curtains, flooding the shack with light. Pisica yelped and covered her eyes. I immediatly yanked them closed agian, hearing her sigh of relief. "First things first, we need to get you some sunglasses." I told her, and she nodded. About ten minutes later, a shop that catered to blind people was missing a frame and several dozen lenses.

I gave her the finished product, which was a set of sunglasses that completely blocked out all light. "And here," I said, pointing it out. "You can take the lenses out as you adjust." She turned it over in her hands. "These look just like…um…" I saw her eyes go blank. "Just like…" I cocked my head. "Just like whose?" She shook her head, as if trying to remember something. "I don't know. I saw them, and I thought, these look just like his, only black, but when I tried to remember who my mind went blank."

I shrugged. "Well, if you've got amnesia, I don't know how to help you." She put them on, and I could see her shoulders relax, like the light had hurt her more than I realized. "I don't know what to do either. But you said we were partners, what are we going to be doing?" I blushed. "We, well, we're going to be pickpocketing." She stared at me, and I felt the hair on the back of my neck rise. When she had those glasses on, she looked like some kind of government agent, and I couldn't see her eyes at all. "That's all? You were looking like we were murderers." She rasped, smiling slightly. I rolled my eyes. "Please, what kind of kid kills people?"

She shrugged. "Well, remember, my memory starts about a day ago. I have no idea what people do here." I snickered, and she glared at me. At least I think she did. "I'm not blind, just very light-sensitive." She snapped, seeing my expression of mirth. I stopped smiling with an effort. "Get some sleep." I said, pointing to a blanket that was right next to my tiny bed. She nodded, dragging it over to the door and laying down. She yawned, and I copied her. "Night Soarece." She mumbled, still sonding raspy. "Night Pisica." I said, snuglling under my covers.

_Pisica's POV:_

I looked around, seeing blackness stretch out in front of me. _Where am I?_ Images flashed by, swirling and dipping like a flock of birds, and just as hard to catch. _Red eyes, running, cliff! Falling down, down, down, and a painful __crunch as I hit the ground._ I blinked, jerking away, accidently running into another image. _Someone holding onto me, protecting me, and a smell like ozone and blood. _I fell, trying to block out all the images. _Heat, fire, pain, death! A sinking into darkness, feeling my life slip away… a voice calling my name, saying-_

I jerked awake, panting and sweating hard._ I almost had it._ Then I blinked. _Had what? What was I dreaming about?_ My memory swirled in my head, and then settled. The only thing I remembered were those vivid red eyes. _There's no way a human could have those eyes._ I put a hand to my cheek, rubbing under my glasses. _My eyes aren't human either. What am I?!_ Soarece was staring at me. "You remember something?" I blinked, then shook my head. "Yes, well, no. I remember eyes. Red ones."

She frowned "An insomniac maybe? Somone who didn't sleep much? Sound familiar?" I shook my head. "No, like _red_ eyes. Like mine are purple." She raised her eyebrows. "That definetly is someone I don't know." I smiled at her gratefully. " It doesn't matter. What do we do now? I'm hungry." She helped me stand up. "Right now we go dumpster diving for breakfast." She led the way outside, and I silently thanked her for my glasses. I could _see_, without burning my retinas out. For instance, right now, I could tell the expressions on all the people staring at me.

"Why is everyone staring at me like this?" I asked her, and she looked around, startled. "You walk funny. And people don't know you can see, and they're surprised to see a blind person move so casually." I made a noncommittal sound and looked back at the people, who suddenly found better things to do. _This is fun._ We came to a restaurant and I saw the people inside, all of whom looked like they had much more money than we did. Soarece led the way around the back, and there was a dumpster filled full with leftover scraps.

"People just _leave_ all this?" I asked, staring at the bounty before us. She shrugged, digging out an almost untouched pie and tossing it to me. "Yep. Eat up, we're the first ones here today." I frowned at the "first ones here" part, but started eating. Before either of us had finished, a group of kids, all older than Soarece, walked into the alley. "Back off runt." One said, throwing her into the wall. I brushed crumbs off my front. "Leave her alone." I said, cramming the last bit of pie in my mouth. They all stared at me, before bursting out laughing.

"You too." One said, moving to push me away from the dumpster. I held my ground. "No." They all snarled and moved close to me, and Soarece said pleadingly "Pisica, please, back off. It isn't worth it." The one who seemed to be the leader shoved me. "Yeah, before we pull your whiskers off." I felt a red haze come over my vision. "You back off." I said between gritted teeth. They all laughed, and closed in around me. One held a knife, lightly pressing it against my cheek. "I'll give you the count of three." He said in a soft, reasoning tone. "One."

I glanced around, assessing where each of them stood. "Two." Soarece was staring at me. "Three." I whipped both legs out, knocking two of the gang of the ground. I ducked under his knife thrust, grabbing the handle and wrenching him over my shoulder. He went flying, knocking over the others, who were getting to their feet. They all sprawled on the ground, and Soarece cheered. They looked at the knife in my hands, and left. "How'd you move so _fast_?" she asked. I shrugged casually. "I don't think I was moving all that fast. What do we do now?"

She looked at the knife in my hand. "Well, for starters, we pawn that. Good quality, very expensive. We can get you some new clothes and stuff like that." And so, about three hours later, I was wearing some clothes that _weren't_ covered in mud and blood, and I had discovered I was covered in knives. "Do we pawn these?" I asked, showing her a few of them. I was feeling reluctant to do so, for some odd reason .She looked at them critically. "No, if you had them, we should keep them. They might help you remember." I nodded, feeling much better somehow.

We strolled along and I saw an older man, covered in fancy looking chains, and wearing a furry coat stroll out from an imposing building. Soarece tensed next to me. "Walk beside him, and ask if you can have some money." She whispered in my ear, then disappeared into the crowd. I came up to the man, and said "Excuse me sir, but can I have some spare change? Please?" He glared down his nose at me, despite the fact we were the same height, and said stiffly "I think not. Be gone, street urchin." He turned on his heel and marched away.

I saw Soarece slip by him, and apologize, then walk straight back to me. "I think we can buy you a bed of your own now." She said, flipping through the man's fat wallet. I giggled. "Can I try?" I said enthusiastically. "Yeah, why not?" she pointed to another man walking out from what I supposed was a bank. "Put your hand in his pocket and take out what you find. If he catches you, make a run for it and meet me back at the shack." I nodded. "Right."

I stalked my target, waiting. He didn't notice me, and I gently put my hand in one of his pockets, taking out a few tens. I did the same to several other people, and met Soarece in the back of another alley. "Wow, you're good." She said, looking over my small pile of bills. I shrugged. "It was pretty easy." She patted my back. "Don't downplay yourself. You're like a ninja." I blushed. "Thanks." We strolled casually out of the alley, and I spotted a woman with a gaggle of children, looking despairingly at a piece of paper she held in her hand. I tapped Soarece's shoulder. "What's wrong with her?" I said, pointing.

Soarece looked sad. "That's one of our neighbors. She had so many kids, she can barely pay rent. Looks like the bills have finally caught up with her." I didn't even question the impulse that made me grab as many of the bills as I could, and walk over to the neighbor-lady. "Here" I said, shoving them all in her hands. She looked at me, startled, then counted out the bills. When she was done, she looked up at me, eyes shining, and threw her arms around my neck. "Thank you." She said, sobbing a little. I let her become self-conscious and back off. "No problem." I said, turning and walking back to Soarece.

She was staring at me too. "What?" I asked, feeling irritable. "You've just given her our dinner money." She said quietly. I pointed my chin at her defensively. "So? She needed it more than we did." I turned and began heading back to our shack. Soarece chuckled and fell into step next to me. "I just hope you won't be making a habit of this." I shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not."

_**Pisica is Romanian for cat, which fit rather well for her. I'm sure you are all waiting for her to re-meet Alucard. I'm working on it. Amnesia is hard to write, I keep having to check for disjointed flashbacks. Oh well, what do you think? I'm still working on which ideas I do or do not want to use. I let you know when I've settled on a plotline! Review, Request, Rcomment! Auf Wedersien! **_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Ah, the possibilities one has for a memory wipe! I tell you, it's like starting out new, only better! I think I've decided on a plotline, but it's still loose. The infinite ideas… **_

_Alucard's POV:_

I blinked, unsure of what I was seeing. Zara stood in front of me, facing towards the sun. Her legs dangled off the edge of a cliff, and she was apparently fascinated by the colors the setting sun made. I reached out for her, remembering the one time she had fallen off a cliff and almost died, but some force stopped me a few inches away. She turned to look at me, and I saw the tears in her eyes. _"Why didn't you save me?"_ Her mouth moved out of time with the words, like another voice was the one saying it. I strained, seeing her center of gravity shift. _"Why?" _she said, mouth stopping too soon and starting too early.

She fell backward, and the bonds holding me released, and I grabbed her, but she fell through my arms like a ghost. I transformed into bats, trying to reach her before she hit the bottom. _"Why did you not help me?"_ She said, her lips moving disjointedly. She was falling so fast, and my bats kept ghosting through her, even though they hit the cliff with perfectly audible thuds. I saw the ground rush up to meet her, and a sickening crack hit my ears. I turned back into human form, finally able to touch her. She was bleeding, and I knew she would die. She whispered, finally moving her lips in synchronization with the words I was hearing. _"Why did you blame yourself?"_

She stopped, and I screamed my grief and anger out to the sky, remembering the tearing I had felt when she had really died. I felt bloody tears run down my face, dripping onto her body. Her corpse twitched, and growled. I looked down, seeing her slowly turn ghoulish, biting at me. I clamped my lips together and pulled out my gun to silence her. One shot, and she had died the second time, crumbling into dust. I woke up, thumping my head against my coffin lid.

I didn't even have to touch my face to know I was covered in blood, from my tears, not from enemies. I clenched my fist around the cat necklace I held in my hand, not caring about the tiny bite of silver. _She's gone._ I told myself, like I had countless times these past few years. _These dreams mean nothing. She will never be coming back._

_Pisica's POV:_

"So why are we here?" I asked Soarece, who was staring down at our targets. "We need cash, remember? Drunkards are easy to take down, and they never remember how much they had originally, so no reports either." She said, giving me a sidelong glance. I shivered. "These ones are giving me a bad feeling. Maybe we should try somewhere else." I said, looking down at them apprehensively. She shook her head. "Watch me." She said, dropping lightly down to the ground. I was now the only one on the rooftop overlooking the alley the drunkards had staggered in.

The setting sun scalded my eyes, even with my glasses on, so I looked away from it, watching Soarece sneaking up on the drunks. They all were laughing and chatting casually and I narrowed my eyes. They seemed a lot less drunk… "SOARECE!" I screamed, just as one spun around and slammed her into a wall. She struggled, scrabbling at the man's hand. "Well, look here. Some fresh blood." Said one, and they all closed around her, grinning.

The one holding her opened his mouth wide, showing impossibly long teeth. I threw a knife at his friends, since they blocked his head. It thunked into his chest, and he staggered back. The others began to laugh, but stopped when they saw him…disintegrating!? He was literally crumbling, falling to dust around my knife. "Blessed silver." One of them hissed, glaring at me. His eyes were _red_. I gasped, but then realized it wasn't the red from my dream-memories. My red eyes were much deeper, and had glints of yellow and orange in them.

"Back off." I snarled, and they started laughing again. "We're hungry and you are nothing more than a girl with a silver blade, that you can't even reach now." Said the one holding Soarece. He turned, forcing her into a hold so I could see her scared face. "Now watch as I feed." He opened his mouth again, and buried his fangs; I couldn't call them anything else, in her throat. She screamed, and I launched myself towards him, stabbing the two others in rapid fire succession and I hit him with my shoulder, knocking his fangs out of Soarece.

I pinned him to the wall with my two longest knives, and widened my focus to include her. She was lying on the ground, probably knocked out. I hoped that was all that she was. "What did you do to her?" I asked, my rough voice getting even harsher. He spat on my face. "You just wait and see, I'm sure you'll love it!" I carefully wiped the saliva off. "What in the hell are you?" I asked, trying to control my temper. "What do you think? Damn, you're one stupid-" I cut him off by the simple expedient of shoving a dagger in his mouth.

"Soarece?" I asked, walking over to her. She moaned and put a hand up to her neck, where I saw two puncture marks, leaking a little bit of blood. _Fangs, two pinpricks, eats blood, hates blessed silver-_ I groaned and put my face in my hands. _There is no way those were vampires._ She twitched, and I picked her up, noticing that she was extremely light, probably due to all the lost meals we didn't have. I walked back home, completely freaked out.

_Soarece's POV:_

I sat up in bed, automatically putting a hand to my neck. It encountered bandages, and I swallowed. _Please let that have been a dream._ I turned to see Pisica staring at me, and I jumped. "Wha…happened?" I slurred, feeling exhausted. She rubbed the back of her neck, looking awkward. "Well…" I could tell she was unsettled, because I had had a year to work out her facial expressions, glasses and all. I still couldn't see past them, but she said her light tolerance was improving.

"What…happened." I said, glad my voice was no longer slurred. She took a deep breath. "I think you were bitten by a vampire, and now you are a vampire too. I even put some blood out for you." She gestured to a bowl, filled with blood. I wanted to laugh, but the stuff in the bowl smelled oddly appetizing… Without even realizing it, I got up and walked over to the bowl. "Did you… is this yours?" I asked, feeling woozy. She nodded. "I think you've confirmed the whole vampire theory. Drink some, and prove me wrong." I shrugged, lifted the bowl to my lips, and drank.

My eyes flew open, and I unconsciously bit down, almost shattering the bowl. The blood poured down my throat, and with every drop I felt stronger, like I could take on the world. I licked it clean, noticing my tongue had gotten oddly longer. Pisica coughed, and I looked up at her. "Well, your eyes are red, you downed an entire bowl of blood without vomiting some back up, and you even _smell _different. A bit like…um…" Her face took on that familiar blank expression it did when she almost remembered something from her past. I looked sadly at the bowl. "So I'm a bloodsucker now."

She shook her head, probably coming back to the present. "Yeah. We need to get _you_ some glasses now." She said, her face expressionless, but we both knew she was teasing. I shrugged, and walked over to the window, looking out to try and see what time it was. I shrieked and fell back, my skin feeling like I had rubbed poison ivy all over it. Pisica caught me, and put me back in my bed. "Guess the whole sunlight intolerance thing is true too." She walked out the door, saying she would be back as soon as she got some glasses. I fell back on the bed, thinking through all the repercussions of being a vampire. On the plus side, I was now immortal, unaging, and guaranteed to win any fight. On the down side, I had to drink other people's blood, sleep in a coffin, and never go out in the light of day.

Pisica came back, silently handing me a pair of sunglasses, which, although much more transparent than her own, still effectively blocked out my eye color. She stood there, looking at me as I tried them on. "I guess I'll have to go get you a coffin or some such." She said quietly. I forced a laugh, and the corner of her mouth twitched. "Can you wait until dark? I want to try my new powers out." She grinned, and I grinned back.

_Pisica's POV:_

I sat in a chair, waiting for Soarece to come out of the coffin shop. Apparently, people had all _sorts_ of coffins readymade. I think on my way out I passed one in hot pink. I clapped my hands together and prayed. _Please let her not pick the pink one; please let her not pick the pink one._ About an hour later, she walked out, dragging a nice coffin, a dark mahogany color. "Only one my size." She explained, letting it fall back down on the ground. We carried it back, feeling rather conspicuous. But we made it, and when we put it where her old bed had been, we both looked at it in confusion.

"I'm sure it's very comfy." I said slowly, watching her. She nodded. "I feel like something's missing though." I snapped my fingers. Vampire stories, this being Romania, abounded. "You need some "soil from your birthplace". Where were you born?" she shrugged. "Here, I think." I nodded. Five minutes later with a shovel and an impromptu stuffing, and Soarece's coffin was nicely filled. She settled down into it, sighing a little. "This is much better." I gave her a thumbs up. "Glad to be of service."

I sat down on her, which was now my, bed, watching her settle slowly into the coffin, muttering. She turned over a couple times, and folding and unfolding her arms, like vampires always were supposed to fold them. "Stop posing and go to sleep." I growled, smirking as she gave me a wounded look. "I want to sleep like a proper vampire." She said defensively. I ran a hand through my hair. "Vampires are _silent_, and when have you ever seen one sleeping? She sighed. "Got me there. Night Pisica." I yawned, turning over and covering myself with the tattered sheets. "Night Soarece."

I woke up the next morning and fumbled for my glasses. It had been roughly a year since Soarece had taken me in, and I still had to wear the stupid things. I put them on, sighing. Sure, I had super, almost x-ray vision at night, when it was really dark, but stick me on a bright street and I can hardly see from the glare. I still had, like super hawk vision, that was the problem. Everything was so much _brighter_. At least looking at the moon didn't hurt anymore.

I looked over to Soarece's coffin, and frowned. She should have been up and about… I slapped my forehead. She was a vampire now, and midmorning would feel like 2 am for her. I stretched; glad to be free of the blankets. Call me stupid, but when I wake up, I want to be up and doing something. I scribbled a note, figuring that she needed blood just like I needed breakfast, and I sure as heck wasn't going to chance her infecting the general public with vampirism. I headed out the door, tugging the collar of my coat up against the cold. _Stupid winter._

_**Yeah, Soarece is a vampire now! I thought this would work out really well when they get introduced. I can see it now… *evil laugh*. I'm not going to listen to the fledgling rule, because Pisica/Zara killed her "master" almost immediately. Their timeline is different than the people at Hellsing's remember, because they're only a year after she died, and the people at Hellsing are the full three years afterward. I figured Soarece needed a year or two to adjust to being a vampire. And then they meet up with you know who… R, R, Rcomment. Auf Wedersein!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_**My parents are equally appalled and enthusiastic about how much I've been on the computer. All weekend, most of today, writing. I blamed it all on you people. If you didn't read this, and like it, then I wouldn't have to write so much and enjoy it! It's all your fault(s). I threw you guys under the bus, but since most of you (all) are nowhere around, I got blamed anyway. :P But oh well, I don't really care much. They didn't yell at me all that loud, and I still can write. Its happy things all around! Topic jump, it's snowing again! I swear, it's like being in London. It snows a few inches, sticks for a few days, then melts. Whoop-de-dang-do. *fake smiley face* It's supposed to be MINESOTA people. You know, snow all the way up to your nose, ice in your pajamas? (Never happened here, but we've had snow every month but July. I'm being cautious.) Granted, this is happening in April, but still. The year before last, that was bad. WE ONLY HAD A FEW INCHES AT ANY GIVEN TIME! We had a **__brown__** (no snow) Christmas. IN MINNESOTA! I can see how you other people's might jaws have hit the floor.**_

_Pisica's POV:_

We had a somewhat awkward arrangement. Every so often, we would go clubbing and Soarece would drain someone, although we figured if it was a fatal draining, they'd turn into this zombie-thing. First time that happened, I stabbed it with one of my knives, which apparently stopped it (forgive me for the pun) dead in its tracks. Every week I would drain a pint or so of my blood, and Soarece would drink it, which seemed to hold off enough of her cravings for her to act normal, somewhat. I had tried a number of vampire warding off techniques, with varying success.

I had tried waving garlic at her, but after staring at it for a moment, she shrugged and ate it, which resulted in a fit of coughing. I teased her, but she angrily tried to eat some pancakes, and vomited those up. "So solid food is a big no-no." I said, looking over my list. She nodded, still coughing. A week later, we tried running water. Apparently that was a big no-no too. She was shivering violently, and I was going to ask if the water was really that cold, but remembered that she hadn't touched it before trying to skive off. "I f-feel l-like I 'm-m i-in a c-cold f-fire." She said, teeth chattering.

The hairs rose on the back of my neck. Fire was still a phobic thought for me. Once, when Soarece was still human, she had tried turning on a gas-lit stove, only to have me shriek and slam into a wall in my panicked effort to escape. I looked at her. She was about three feet from a merrily running brook. "When you get closer to the water, do you feel colder?" She nodded, vibrating with the need to get away. I made a note on the ever increasing list. "Note: water is cold fire. Avoid." Next week we tried the theory of blessed grounds.

Soarece walked to church with me, looking nervous. "What if I burst into flames and melt?" she asked, glancing apprehensively at the tiny church and graveyard ahead of us. "If you were going to burst into flames and melt, wouldn't you do so when you walked out in the sun?" I asked, keeping my eyes focused ahead. She ran a hand through her hair and winced. I saw the tiny streamlets of smoke running off her skin where ever it was out in the open. "I certainly feel like I'm on fire." I grinned mirthlessly. "And if graveyards were a vampire hangout, why did people say you can't enter a consecrated space? Because I'm pretty sure a priest would have blessed a graveyard before they put people in it."

She stopped dead, staring at the thin line of iron rail that separated the so-called ordinary world from the blessed grounds of the holy. "I can't do this." I squinted at her. "There's like a barrier or something?" She shook her head. "What if I burst into flames and melt? What if I, like pollute it somehow? What if I poison this holy place!?" I watched her calmly. "What if I do this?" I said, shoving her so she fell on the ground, landing inside the perimeter. She landed right on her rear. "Ow!" I grinned, casually strolling in. "It seems the blessed grounds defense theory is officially dead." She rubbed her behind. "What if I really did burst into flames and melt!? You would have killed me!"

I helped her sit up. "I had a 90% chance you wouldn't. And I was right." She scowled at me, and I brightened. "How about we try a blessed cross or some such, since you're mostly intact?" I didn't wait for her to answer, and dragged her back to our shack. I whipped out a cross made from tying two of the daggers I had found on myself together. I waved it at her, and she flinched back, tripping and falling on her coffin with a thud. "Yeah, that works. It feels like you're shocking me with a bolt of electricity. Put it down." I grinned, putting it down and reviewing my list.

_Light tolerance- extremely high, only light smoking when fully exposed._

_Blood- seems to need about a pint per day._

_Silver- high tolerance, except when blessed_

_Blessed Grounds- not even a twitch_

_Solid Foods- seems to be able to tolerate small amounts, but says they taste nasty. Not recommended_

_Running Water- Very bad. Says water is cold fire. Avoid._

_Coffin- says doesn't need to sleep, but seems more cheerful and upbeat when used. Use often, she is a real "morning" hater._

_Garlic- no reaction, except the typical one to solid food._

_Blessed things in general- bad, but can be tolerated for short periods. Avoid._

_Abilities-_

"Hey, we haven't tested out any of you powers yet!" I yelped, feeling guilty I had not paid attention to this detail. She straightened from her prone position on the coffin. "Let's fix that, shall we?" she asked, grinning. Five nights and several lengthy explanations later, my list was much longer.

_Abilities__:_

_Strength- above average. Lifts heavy weight like they were nothing._

_Speed- oddly, I can beat her when it comes to that, but she whoops all the normal people in races._

_Agility- outstanding. Enhanced reflexes, predicts targets actions, untouchable by anyone but me. Combined with speed, almost unstoppable._

_Intelligence- still Soarece, but seems much better at thinking and planning battle moves._

_Zombie things- apparently some kind of pet or slave. Follows simple directions, but still zombies. Avoid creating._

_Regeneration- not bad, can survive most death blows, before healing. Silver still presents a problem. Avoid testing in the field as much as possible._

_Hypnotism- apparently, people can stay under this for several hours. Pinkish discoloration, but barely detectable. Worth pursuing._

_Mind-reading- weak, only able to sense emotions so far. May increase as drinks more blood._

_Accuracy- surprising. Can hit a target accurately from over a hundred feet away. Says something about a third eye. Research._

_Going through solid objects- caught her with one hand __through__ the cookie jar. Had to smash, definitely one of her __developing__ powers._

_Other- Says she feels like animals are following her, moved the door closed once, said she __felt__ a pastor conduct a blessing on the neighbor's newest child. More developing powers, not sure what will result._

"So, I'm like a superhero now!" she said, looking over my list. One corner of my mouth twitched up. "A bloodsucking, night dwelling one." She frowned. "No need to rain on my parade." I grinned lazily. "That's my sole purpose. I'm a stormcloud, just waiting for some unsuspecting happy-go-lucky punk to wander by with his noisy parade, then I dump a big dam-buster right on his head. I thunder all the happy out of him, and zap his parade floats to dust. Then I pelt him and his entourage with hail." We both laughed hysterically, the image presented just too funny for us to deal with. Speak of the devil, a big crash of thunder boomed over our heads and sent us shrieking under the covers, or in her case, coffin lid. Rain poured down, pattering through the cracks in the roof and dripping onto the floor.

We laughed, amused by our overreaction. "A superhero, just, keep away from the storms. Thunder's your big weakness." I said, laughing so hard I could barely breathe. She cracked the lid on her coffin, eyes glowing in the little bit of darkness it afforded. "Oh shut up. You screamed too." I shrugged. "Yes, but I'm a fragile human." The lights flickered, then went out. I sighed. "You want to fix it, or should we sit in the pleasant dark?" I asked, wondering where all the heat had gone. She shook her head. "The heats off to, and you need it. Plus, what about breakfast?" I sighed, walking over to my coat, which was pretty dang cool.

It was black with a high collar, and always made me feel like some kind of spy, mysterious and dangerous. Soarece said it made me look like a gang boss, one of the pretty ones who backstab their way into power. I liked it either way. It was pitch dark, like if you held a hand in front of your face you would see nothing, but I could see clearly. I opened the door, feeling icy rain patter down on my face. It was calming, and I liked it. Water made me feel safe, probably a reaction to the whole fire-phobia thing. I climbed up to the roof, seeing the antenna that anchored us to a power line was crooked.

My first stupid mistake was to touch it without gloves. It was searing cold, and my hands felt like they were burning. I tugged at it, trying to return it to its former position. My mind slipped into the pattern I was making for it, namely, trying to remember who or what I was before I met Soarece. I thought about this when I was falling asleep, when I was standing in line, whenever there was spare time. Trying to do anything in a storm without my whole mind focused on the task was my second stupid mistake. My third, and most costly, was to put both feet on the circuit breaker, thus effectively making a chain for electricity.

My whole body suddenly tensed up, and I felt all the hairs on my neck stand up. That was the only warning I got before a lightning bolt hit me head on. I shrieked, feeling a wave of electricity slam through my body, the bounce back as it hit the circuit breaker. Heat flared in my body, and images flashed in front of my eyes. _Vampire, tall, stately, long red coat, black hair, infuriating smirk on his face as he swept me into a dance-_ I was blown back from the antenna, slamming into a brick building, one of our neighbor's apartment flats. "Ow…" I moaned, feeling the static from the bolt still traveling through my body. "Note to self…lightning bolts are bad…for the…body." I smiled though, remembering a little more about who I was was totally worth being pulverized by a lightning bolt.

_**She didn't follow safety rules. Shame… but she remembered more! My parents are kicking me off the computer, so this is going to be a shorter chapter. Sorry! R, R, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Flameslavier, you gave me three reviews already! Last fanfic, it took till chapter five before anyone said anything! I suppose I must have proved I was a good writer or something, and you guys just went ahead and poured reviews down my throat. Keep it up! Flamealchemist103, question, did you read my other fanfic first? I never saw you reviewing or favoriting or (and someone tell me what this is) following. Not to nag, plenty of other people never reviewed and favorited it, or followed (?) it, I'm just curious.**_

_Pisica's POV:_

"Ow…" I moaned again. I heard shoes squeak on the pavement next to me, and saw a shadowy figure lean over my head. "Pisica! What _happened _to you?" I let my head fall back on the ground. "I just learned what it was like to be struck by lightning. And I remembered a scene from my past." I said, watching Soarece pick my limp hand up, watching my pulse. "Shouldn't you be dead?" she asked, sounding concerned. "You needn't sound so disappointed." I mumbled grumpily, sighing as she picked me up and dragged me back to the shack.

When I was properly situated in bed, she went back to the roof to check out the spot where I had almost been fried. When she came back in she was soaking wet, and looked awed. "You were standing right on top of an active power circuit. The only reason you aren't dead is it backfired." I felt my forehead. "I wondered why I was blown off. Here I thought the lightning just catapulted me." She looked excited, and leaned toward me. "You said you remembered something! What was it?" I blushed, feeling very uncomfortable. "Umm…" she grinned wickedly. "Was it a dirty scene?" I choked, scrabbling at my blankets for something to throw at her.

"No! I was…dancing." I blushed harder, thinking. "With a man… I think he was a vampire. He had very pretty red eyes…" I trailed off, remembering the exact shade of red, and the tiny glints of other colors, like a flickering flame. Soarece giggled. "You are _so_ in love with him." I blushed crimson, shaking my head rapidly. "NO! I mean, your eyes are pretty too, but he's taller, and more graceful and-" I cut myself off, noticing I was going into his traits again. She smirked. "In. love. With. Him." I buried my head in my pillow. "Shut up." I muttered, feeling my face heat up. She got up, feeling my forehead. "Hey, you're heads hot. Are you all right?"

I lifted one side of my glasses to glare at her. "Just about dying of embarrassment, but otherwise I'm right as well… um, rain." She snickered. "Well, we really need to find out who he is. This is serious." I let my lenses fall back into place. "More serious than it already was? Funny, I was under the impression it couldn't get more serious than a _total mind wipe_." She squealed excitedly, like a little girl. Even though I was technically only two years old, I knew I was _much_ older than her, at least in this respect. "Yes, but this is _romance_. Imagine how heartbroken he must be, thinking you died or something. We need to get you back together!" I rolled my eyes.

For a girl raised on the streets, Soarece could be surprisingly naïve. "What if he was the one who tried to kill me? Like out of jealousy or something. Maybe I was cheating on someone with him." She bounced excitedly. "Was that the vibe you were getting from him? Was he jealous, protective, or what, c'mon, give me _details_!" I sighed, rubbing my forehead. "He was…amused. Like he had got one up on me in some kind of prank war or something. I was annoyed, but kind of…" I blushed. "Flattered. That's all I really remember. No names, or locations, or whatever."

She grabbed her coffin. "That's it. We've wasted enough time on me, we're going to focus on you from now on." She threw all her clothes, which were two complete outfit changes, and a few other necessities, into it, then closed and locked it. "I feel so selfish, wasting time with my vampirism instead of focusing on the real problem." She dumped all my stuff in a backpack. She shoved it at me, and I caught it dumbly. "But…what about our home? And pardon me for pointing this out, but being a vampire is more immediate than amnesia. Just saying."

I knew better to fight with her when she was in this mode. She was going to do what she bloody well wanted, and I would have to trail in her wake, trying to repair the damage. Nothing I could say would shake her out of it; I just had to wait for her impulse to wear off. Sadly, this meant moving god knows where, and… wait a minute. "Do you have a plan, or are we just going to wander Europe until we cross paths with him or someone else from my past?" I asked, feeling this may be an argument I could win. She shook her head. "We're going to head to where you're memories start, and then work on from there." My heart sank. Bang went my plan for dissuading her.

"Ok, but…" I trailed off, seeing her take her most stubborn pose, and glare at me expectantly. "Never mind." She nodded firmly, and shoved me out the door, into the freezing rain, I might add. She threw her coffin out after me, and I shoulder my backpack, feeling just a little better, after all, I might get my memory back. Soarece stepped out after me, closing the door, but leaving it open for strays and beggars. You never know. She picked up her coffin, and we set off into the night.

_Soarece's POV:_

I let my coffin fall to the ground, feeling antsy and nervous. All this rain didn't technically count as running water, but it was giving me the willies. Pisica had stopped in a clearing by a stream, which only made me more jittery. "I remember seeing the moon reflecting off this stream." She said slowly, looking around her. "I remember crawling downhill, but I don't remember where from." I looked uphill. With my vamperic vision, I could see a dip in the mountainside that looked promising. We headed upwards, me dragging my coffin, silently thanking the carpenter, or machine, that made it so sturdy.

We stopped at the top of the dip, and I whistled low. The ground below us was charred, even, and this was a shrewd guess, two years after some kind of explosion. Twisted bits of metal had been picked up by a salvage team or something, but we could both see that the place had been full of it. Pisica whimpered, shivering. "This is a bad place. I shouldn't be here. This is a bad place." I looked at her, surprised. She never showed this level of fear before, and I could actually smell it. "What do you remember?" I asked gently, knowing this was the one thing that would get her moving.

She took off her glasses, and I was surprised to see her pupils, which were normally cat-like, had almost become human. "I remember fire." She whispered, shuddering like she was feeling it all over again. "I remember death. I remember flames." Her eyes were far off, like she was seeing something in the distance."I remember scorching heat. I remember falling, sinking…" she was shaking now, and her eyes started to roll up in her head. "I remember being called back, I remember-" she collapsed, and I caught her, surprised.

_Ok, so she died. Big deal, you can do this Soarece_. I thought to myself, dragging her and my coffin to a secluded cave. I put her down, opening the backpack and getting out a blanket and lighter, putting the blanket on her and the lighter in my pocket. I went to go look for tinder, wondering what I would do if she never wok up.

_Pisica's POV:_

I moaned, light searing my tender eyes. I cracked them open, seeing flames. I shrieked and jumped back, slamming into what felt like a solid rock wall. "Whoa! Pisica! Calm down!" I heard Soarece say, but my vision was taken up by the flames, their color and light, burning my eyes. I shrieked again and again, feeling them burn my limbs. Something blocked the vision. "Pisica, it's ok! Look at me, what do you see?" I whimpered. "Firefirefirefirefirefirefire." Was all I could say, whispering it in a chant like I hoped it would drive the real thing away. She turned, kicking sand over it. "There, it's gone, see?"

I swallowed hard, feeling my thoughts return. "Don't do that again." I whispered through numb lips. "Not here. Especially not here." She sat on her coffin, looking guilty. "I seem to be making all sorts of bad calls tonight, aren't I?" she said, looking at me sheepishly. I put my head in my hands. "No. You had no idea that I would have this reaction. We know more about me now, right?" I said, giving her a halfhearted grin. She smiled back, albeit tiredly. "Yeah, I guess we could put it that way. So, basically, fire brings back your memories?" I nodded, feeling very wary all of a sudden.

"It seems like it, yeah. Images come easiest, I haven't heard any names, or any sounds at all. When the lightning hit me, that was the clearest memory I had. It was the clearest one I could remember. But I can't go dancing out on a roof every time I want to remember more, and anytime I see fire I flip. Even a little campfire-" I gestured to the ashes, still gently smoldering. "-freaks me out." She rubbed her chin, thinking. "What did you remember, you know, _there_?" she asked, pointing outside. I shuddered. "I remembered being burned up. I was on fire."

She frowned. "But you were just a little banged up when I first saw you." I took a deep breath. "I don't want to talk about that here. Where can we go next?" she unfolded a map and looked at it. "Well, you speak English, so you're not from any of the countries nearby. You have more of a… American accent. Yeah, definitely. So now, we go to America. I blinked at her. "That will require a whole busload of cash, alibis, _adults_, and going overseas. We can manage alibis and money, at a pinch, but the others are more pressing anyway." She waved a hand airily. "Don't worry, I have a plan." Because her plans thus far had worked out _so_ well.

_**Yes, she remembers a little bit more each chapter. Fire is an interesting memory invocative, but hey, go with the flow. They'll meet up with you-know-who next chapter, I promise. These are depressingly short, but I'm trying to get to a certain point, at which they shall become as lengthy and arduous (look it up) as you want. R, R, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Sigh, I really need to find more chapter info. A downside of already having a set of characters with explanations in place. You all (or you should) know all the characters, with the exception of Soarece, who was just introduced this fanfic. And she's pretty self-explanatory. I have a genius plan involving her and Techno though. It's going to be epic. *evil laugh* I must say, I've gotten over the whole stupid romance thing easier than I thought I would. Stupid teenage hormones. What else is there to say… nope, haven't got anything. Start reading already!**_

_Alucard's POV:_

I sighed to myself quietly as I stalked through the misty streets. Vampire attacks had been reported recently, in London, no less_. The vampire reckless enough to come near the Hellsing Manor might be very strong_… I shook my head. _Wishful thinking._ Police Girl walked beside me, humming to herself. The attacks were in and around Hyde Park. So, the vampire, or vampires, must be based somewhere there. I just wanted to get this over with and go home.

_Pisica's POV:_

I watched as Soarece drained her latest meal, a tramp with a hygiene problem. She carefully detached herself from his neck, licking her lips. He sighed quietly and started snoring. "Remind me again why I agreed to this?" I asked, watching her eyes blaze bright red, then fade. She shook her head, probably trying to focus. "It was your idea. I need extra strength to go overseas, and we need a lot more money than we have, or were you going to hitchhike across the Atlantic?" I smirked. We had managed to get to England, which was the biggest test of all, short of flying over the actual ocean.

Hitchhiking had served us well, although most people did a double take when they saw the coffin. We had to sneak aboard a boat to get here, and Soarece had to muffle screams the whole way across the Channel. "Still no problem with water?" I asked. She sighed wistfully. "I can cross small streams now, if I run really, _really_ fast. If I stay in my coffin, I think we can do this." I ran a hand through my hair. Nervous habit I seemed to have. "Et ce qui arrive quand on arrivé là? " I asked, trying to copy the French accent we had heard so many times in the past two months. She giggled. "You make French sound so…unfrench." I glared down my nose at her, loftily.

"Well, I thought I might as well learn the language, since you _insisted_ on staying in Paris for two weeks." I said huffily. She had learned it too, and I hadn't gotten a good day's sleep since, as she constantly muttered French phrases in her sleep. I had to hand it to her, when she wanted to learn a language, she committed, asleep or awake. She laughed with me, then stopped. "I smell something…" she said, staring off into the fog. I sniffed. "Get downwind." I said, shoving her. She complied, crouching down by some bushes. I sniffed again, deeply. She watched me in undisguised awe, because, due to a grueling series of tests, we figured out my sense of smell is much more acute.

A harsh tone, overlaid with bits that smelled like the lightning bolt that had hit me last year in Romania. Old blood, and power, like a copper-coated thunderstorm. I hissed. "Vampires." I said in a low tone, crouching down beside her. She growled softly, and we both scurried over to a spot with more cover. It was a bad night, a misty fog covering the ground, making it harder to see and smell. I felt a chill run down my spine. We both read far too much, and I was remembering all the stories about Jack the Ripper, who had hunted on such nights. I had a funny feeling that if the vampires caught us, we would be in much the same predicament as the Ripper's victims.

"Don't hide." The voice seemed to curl out of the fog, male and very bored sounding. And very, very soothing. I actually felt my eyes closing, and pinched my arm, trying to wake myself up. I nudged Soarece, whose eyes were closing. She gave me a grateful look. "You'll only make me angry if you hide." The voice said, coming closer. I tensed, and Soarece opened her mouth, showing her fangs. I didn't reach for my daggers, because I knew the slightest sound or movement could betray us. A gleam of a dagger blade, or Soarece's teeth, could be our death. She closed her mouth, understanding the silent look I gave her. The voice sounded farther away. "You won't like me to come find you."

We didn't move an inch. We both knew this trick, moving off and waiting for the prey to run for cover. A sigh eased out of the fog. "I'll give you one last chance. Run, I'll even give you a head start. I'm bored, and want to end this quickly." A tortuous moment passed. We could run, and give this vampire an opening to attack, or we could go on the offensive, and force his hand. He sounded very confident, as if there was no way he thought he could lose. If he knew, or thought he knew, either of us were vampires, that was a very bad sign. I looked at Soarece, who was patiently waiting for orders. It all boiled down to a fight or flight response.

_Fight…or flight?_ Neither option was very enticing. There was a third option, which, while infinitely less favorable, was still better than the first two. I mouthed three words at Soarece. _Divide and conquer. _She nodded once. In a second, we were both up and running, in opposite directions. Just in time, as a bullet hit the ground a pace behind both of us. I jumped for a tree, and started running along the branches, were there was infinitely more cover. Bullets thunked into the wood around me, and even running I could clearly see they were all blessed sliver.

I heard Soarece scream behind me, and forced myself not to go back. _She's fine, she's fine. I didn't hear a gunshot or anything. Please let her be fine!_ I felt something hit me in the stomach, winding me and knocking me out of the tree. Dazed, I rolled into a fetal position, trying to see what hit me. I heard a gunshot and twisted, trying to evade my attacker. I succeeded partially, the bullet hit me in the shoulder. I looked down at my stomach, seeing blood leak from a perfectly round hole. _Crap._ Then the pain hit me and I arched, trying to think through the waves of agony rolling up through my shoulder and midriff. I heard faint footsteps, then I was lifted up from the ground and slammed into a tree.

_Alucard's POV:_

I slammed her into a tree, smirking faintly and her moan of agony. I had hit her twice, and she was still conscious. She scrabbled at my hands, hissing through her teeth. I causally tightened my grip and she gasped for air. "I told you, you wouldn't like it if you made me find you." I said, feeling somewhat better now that I caused some pain. I frowned, studying her face. "What a pathetic vampire." I rumbled, feeling disgusted. "You still need to breathe." She was turning red, but still managed to gasp out. "Not…a…vampire…" I scowled. "Well then, what's behind those glasses?" I asked, hooking a finger around the bridge piece.

She managed to wrap a hand around my wrist, still struggling for air. "Don't…" she choked out, sounding frantic. I slid them down her nose, but as soon as they moved she shut her eyes tightly. I pulled them all the way off, and flung them to the ground. "Open your eyes." I said, loosening my grip on her slightly. She tried shaking her head, but couldn't. I sighed and squeezed. She gasped, clawing at me with both hands, and I felt a sting as her nails scored down my arm. "Open them." I growled, tightening my grip to show her what would happen if she didn't.

She whimpered, cracking one lid open, but it was barely more than a slit. I couldn't even see her pupils. "All the way." I said, putting my free hand on one of the bullet wounds and pressing down. She screamed, twisting in my grip. I held her down with very little effort, and eventually she stopped moving. Hesitantly, she opened her other eye. I snarled, and she quickly opened both eyes about halfway, the yelped and closed them again, trying to shield her eyes with her hands. I felt confused. I had barely caught a glimpse of her eyes, only enough to tell they were some cool color, maybe blue or dark green. Why didn't she open them all the way? "Why aren't you doing it all the way?" I asked, feeling grumpy.

She moaned softly. "Light…too much…light…hurts…stop…" She was barely conscious. I loosened my grip, barely enough to keep her pinned down. She took deep gasping breaths, clearly grateful for the increase in oxygen. I smelled the air. _What the_… I dropped her like she was a hot brick, and she slumped on the ground, not even trying to get away. Blood poured from her shoulder and stomach, and I stuck a finger in the widening pool, sniffing it in confusion. It was a familiar scent, one I knew as well as my own. _Lemons and herbs._ I stared at her, looking her over. She was blond, although her hair was absolutely filthy, and her voice had sounded so similar. "Zara?" I said, hoping against hope. She managed to look up at me, a curiously blank expression on her face. "Who…" she said, before she blacked out.

_Pisica's POV:_

I felt myself being dropped, and just lay there, grateful that oxygen was getting to the proper place. I felt blood leak from my shoulder, and a spreading wetness and warmth on my stomach constituted to the same. I heard him step forward, and a shadow feel over me. I opened my eyes the tiniest bit, seeing him stick a gloved finger into a pool…of my blood!? I heard him sniff it, and then silence. I felt his eyes on my face and body, and wondered if he was going to end it. "Zara?" I heard him say, hearing the hope in his voice. My mind went blank. I looked up at him, trying to remember why that name sounded so familiar. "Who…" I slurred, and before he could answer, felt myself fall into the darkness of unconsciousness.

_***Time Skip***_

I felt my mind drift to the top of reality, lingering warmth still surrounding me. "Wha…day is it?" I said, words blurring together in my sleep-state. "Sunday." A voice by my head said crisply, and I blinked, trying to get up. "Gotta go…gotta go feed Soarece…" I said, trying to move my aching limbs. I felt someone pushing me down, and the voice said firmly. "No. You can barely sit up. I'm sure your pet can take a day without being fed." I struggled weakly, mumbling. "She's…not a…pet…she's a…friend…" I managed to get almost vertical, feeling string-like attachments all over my arms. The voice chuckled, and I realized it was male. I felt a hand in the middle of my chest, shoving me back down on my bed. "You are going to stay here if I have to hold you down myself."

I shook my head numbly. "No…gotta go...feed…her…" I finally managed to open my eyes, and saw someone with their back to me, clinking around on a medicine shelf. They turned, and I realized dimly that it was the vampire who shot me. He had a syringe in his hand, and I strained, trying to get away. He bent over me, and I saw him plunge the needle into my arm. "Since you refuse to listen to common sense, here's a sedative to send you back to sleep." He said, pushing the medicine into me. I felt a tingle spread from the spot, and struggled, trying not to give into the overwhelming urge to sleep. I heard him laugh, and felt a hand smooth the hair away from my forehead as the medicine took me.

_Alucard's POV:_

I smirked, seeing her relax in sleep. I smoothed the hair away from her forehead gently, seeing how dirty and battered she was. The doctors would get a DNA result soon, but I was sure it was her. Others, however, were not. Integra burst in, looking mad enough to kill someone, preferably me. "ALUCARD! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU _THINKING_!" I grinned widely. "Master, don't you see the resemblance? It's uncanny." I gestured to the prone figure on the operating table. Integra fumed. I could almost see the smoke coming from her ears. "THAT DOES NOT GIVE YOU AN EXCUSE TO SNATCH HER OFF THE STREET! What will her parents be _thinking_!?"

I grinned wider. It was fun to bait her. "She doesn't have any, remember?" Integra clenched her fists. "_Zara_ doesn't , but you have no proof it's her!" I sighed. Time to get serious. "Master, I know it's her. I smell it's her, and I feel it's her. The doctors are conducting a DNA test now to see if it really is her." Integra put her head in her hands. "It's not that simple. What if you're wrong? I trust your senses, but what if you're so desperate to have her back that you've deluded yourself?" I straightened. "Master, I admit it. I want her back. You know everyone here at Hellsing wants her back too. I've asked myself the same questions. But fact remains, _I know her blood-scent_. This is her."

Integra sighed. "Then why was she in a park, with a vampire. You said it got away?" I nodded. "Outran Police Girl, and managed to escape. She's wounded, slightly." Integra scowled. "We'll have to ask her a lot of questions. Notify me if she wakes up before sunset, then go get some sleep." I nodded, and settled back in my chair. I watched Zara's chest rise and fall in her sleep, and suppressed a smile. She still stroked invisible cats in her sleep.

_Pisica's POV:_

I learned my lesson from the first time. When the drug wore off, and I felt myself waking up, I waited until I was fully conscious before attempting movement. I slowly, carefully sat up, freezing at the slightest sound. I walked over to a window, wheeling my medical table before me. I leaned out, opening the window and swinging my legs over the side. It was nighttime, which was good, because I still didn't have my glasses. I took a deep breath, and ripped all the monitoring chords off me, sliding out of the window, shoving the table backwards so it would be, hopefully, in the center of the room.

I tucked in my legs and rolled when I hit the ground, and came up ready to run. I heard a faint cheeping from the room, even as I sped away as fast as I could go, that probably signaled my release. I scampered over the wrought-iron fence, sliding back down on the other side and heading for the city of London. I ran as fast as I could, shivering as the cold night air whipped my open skin, and slid under my thin hospital gown. I really, _really _hoped that other vampire wasn't coming after me, because I was pretty sure he would be very, _very_ angry.

_***Time Skip***_

I cracked the door open, seeing Soarece's coffin lying in the corner of the tiny attic of the abandoned house we had found. "Soarece?" I called softly, hoping she was alright. The lid creaked open, and I almost sobbed in relief when Soarece popped out, rubbing her eyes. "Huh… PISICA!" she jumped out, and gave me a flying hug. "Oh my god, I heard you scream and I thought-" I pushed at her, trying to get her off. "Yeah, I heard you scream too. What happened?" she held a hand to her side and winced. I looked, and saw a shallow cut. "It was a lot worse earlier. Blessed silver wounds are hard to heal." I nodded in sympathy. "I got shot twice, once here, and here." I pointed to my stomach and shoulder. She gasped.

"Wow, are you alright!?" I smiled. "Yeah, I think he just grazed me. Just a shallow cut on my shoulder, and a small one on my stomach, but I'm fine." My mind returned to the pool of blood at his feet. That shouldn't have come from just a graze, but what did I know about cuts? She nodded. "Okay. Hey, I hate to be a bother, but I'm really hungry…" I smiled. "Say no more, say no more. I'll get the slicer." I headed over to my backpack, where I kept a really tiny knife, one that was really sharp as well. I tested it on a finger, seeing Soarece's look of hunger.

One quick slice, and I was bleeding into a clear bowl, and she was panting, like a dog about to get water. When it was about full I let her lick my wrist, which was a new technique we had figured out. Vampires have super spit, apparently. She slurped on the bowl, and I saw her eyes glowing brighter and brighter. She licked it clean, and I smirked. She saw the look and grinned as well. "I don't know what you do, but your blood always tastes like an ice-cream sundae, all hoped up with energy. It tastes like…oh, I don't know. Tea, no, lemons, no, herbs. Maybe a combination of all three?" I chuckled. "Maybe because all you get otherwise are tramps and drunks, and how should I know what my blood tastes like?"

She sighed. "Whatever, you're making me hungry. So, what do we do now?" I shrugged. "Steal some plane money and get the heck out of dodge." She nodded, putting on her "Sun gear" which left as little of her skin exposed as possible. We headed out into the air of a London morning, ready for almost anything. Almost.

_**Well, I think I did good. She's not going to die this time, I promise. Word of backstabber's honor I won't. (that's called an oxymoron, look it up.) Five reviews, das ist gut. I completely forgot what she said in French, but it was something like "and when we get there?" sorry. I was going to put the translation down for you, but I suppose you can copy-paste it into Google translate and find out. R, R, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	6. Chapter 6

_**The snow melted again. I don't really care normally, but I'm really bugged about how it snows, stays for about a day and a half, then melts. IF IT'S GOING TO SNOW, IT MIGHT AS WELL STAY AROUND! MAKE UP YOUR MIND ALREADY NATURE! (-)This is a very Minnesotan sentiment, because we have snow lasting from about (typically) Early November to late March, often into April. We enjoy it in November and December, and put up with it the rest of the year. So the weather is pretty normal here. *sigh* If you want to request something, get it in now, because I'll be pretty inspired once I get done with this chapter, at least in theory. Ask me to do something, go on. I triple dog (stupid canine) dare you. : P**_

_Alucard's POV:_

I stood in the hospital ward, feeling grumpy. Not only was it the middle of the day, but Zara had disappeared. The doctors had confirmed it was her, so Integra was just as grumpy as me, but for different reasons. "I thought you drugged her?" she said, smoke drifting from a cigar she held clenched in her hand. I nodded, feeling puzzled. "She should have stayed asleep until the morning, at the very least. I don't know why she's gone." Integra stuck the cigar in her mouth. "Do you think she was kidnapped?" I shook my head. "She was the only one I can smell, by her footprints and in here."

I felt a surge of hope. "I can go after her right? She's been shot, twice. She'll be dazed, confused. In London no less, you know how that could turn out Master." Sir Integra nodded reluctantly. "You may go after her. Be careful, the vampire might be hunting her." I phased through the window, tracking Zara's scent to the crowded confines of the city.

_Pisica's POV:_

My stomach growled. We had finally rustled up enough money to go overseas, and people in the US should be just as pick-pocketable as the people in Europe. But, sadly, this meant I was going to be operating on low fuel for however long it took to get overseas, and several hours into arrival. Not Soarece, she was stoked on a round of blood, both from me and several other people that were asleep on the way here. At least she sounded stoked, and I had to remind her several times already about being _quiet_, because most bags didn't thump and complain. I looked longingly at the vending machines, tucked into a corner by the entrance. Maybe just one…

I looked around cautiously. No one out of the ordinary, none with red eyes or opaque sunglasses. I slid out of my seat, shouldering my backpack. I slipped a pound note from a prosperous looking man, and looked at the machines in speculation. _Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Chocolate._ I put the note in, watching the chocolate bar slowly unlock. I bent down to grab it, but was suddenly pinned against the wall. I blinked, caught off guard for a moment. _Who the…oh, CRAP!_ The vampire who shot me had me pinned to a wall, in a place very out of the way. Didn't take rocket science to figure out how this was going to end. I closed my eyes, waiting for the searing pain of his bite.

I felt something brush my shoulder, and looked down in surprise. He had tugged the collar of my shirt to one side, and was looking at me in a sort of puzzled way. I squeezed my eyes back shut, not wanting to see this coming. He suddenly let go of my collar and I felt the hem of my shirt lift up. My eyes flew open and I had barely registered outrage when I saw that he had stopped lifting it, and I was still covered down to my ribs. My stomach was still exposed though, and I was more confused now than angry. He trailed his hand along the bullet wound, and I squirmed, feeling very uncomfortable.

It tickled a little bit, and he suddenly moved his hand around to my back. He prodded the exit hole, which I hadn't even known was there, gently, and I gasped as it sent up a flare of pain, accidently moving closer to him as I tried to get away from the source of pain. He studied my face, and I knew my expression was one of blatant confusion. "You're a regenerator." He said softly, not sounding angry or confused, or happy, he just said it. "Am not." Was all I could think to say. He smirked a little, and I felt like a fool. "I shot you here…" he moved his hand to my shoulder, tracing the small scar with one finger. "And here…" he moved his hand down, laying it flat on my stomach. "_Yesterday_. Directly. We had to remove the bullet in your shoulder."

He moved his hand away, and let the hem of my shirt fall back down. I gulped, trying to process the information. "Maybe…umm… listen, I _can't_ be a regenerator. " I said, looking at him directly. His glasses reflected the light back, so I couldn't see his eyes at all, beyond a faint shadow. I saw my reflection in them, and I looked very confused. "Why not?" he asked, still faintly smirking. "Because… because… I'm…um…" I felt myself stutter to a stop. He grinned so wide I could see all his teeth. "Because you're…" he teased, twirling a lock of my hair around one finger. I honestly thought I saw red there for a moment. "Listen." I spat, pleased to see he had stopped touching my hair once he heard my tone. "I have no clue who you are or why you shot me, but you better get whatever you're going to do over with, because I have a plane to catch."

He looked shocked, and put both hands on my shoulders, instead of the one. "You don't know who I am?" he asked, looking like he wanted to clarify a point. I shook my head silently. "You don't know anything about me?" he asked, and I heard a slight emotion in his tone. "No. Now kill me or let me go, I don't really care." I said, watching him to see his next move. He raised his eyebrows, and pushed his glasses down, looking me over thoroughly. I blinked, seeing his bright red eyes, they looked exactly like the ones I saw in my dream. "Hmm." He muttered, looking me in the eyes and pushing his glasses back up. I stared at him, grateful that Soarece had recovered my glasses last night.

He shrugged. "Well, I suppose Sir Integra will have to figure out what to do." He suddenly shifted his grip, pinning me to him in some kind of hold. I struggled, sending out mind-shrieks to Soarece and taking a deep breath for a real scream. I suddenly felt myself moving backward, and almost gacked at the misty feeling, accompanied by a slight dizziness. It was weird, I could feel him moving like he was running, but all I could see was a black and red light blur, shooting and spinning past me. I felt a force, like gravity pulling me from his grip, and I wiggled, trying to escape.

He growled, pulling me up to his mouth so he could say "If you want to fall down several dozen stories, or find yourself stuck halfway through a wall, by all means, try to escape me. Otherwise, hold still." I froze, not wanting to chance either of those things happening. He chuckled and pulled me closer to him, accounting for the pull around us. I remained in that position for however long it took, because it was kinda hard to tell, then felt reality closing in around me. I fell to my knees, gasping. A voice above me said "Is this her?" I heard the vampire say "Yes, but she seems to be suffering from memory loss. I don't know what to make of it."

_Alucard's POV:_

I unclasped my arms, letting her fall to the ground. She wheezed, obviously still not used to the side effects of phasing. "Is this her?" Integra asked, looking over the edge of the desk curiously. "Yes, but she seems to be suffering from memory loss. I don't know what to make of it." I said, watching Zara look around, probably re-seeing Integra's office. I felt a pang of sadness, seeing she didn't know who either of us were hurt me. "Where the hell am I?" she said, glaring at Sir Integra. Integra looked back expressionlessly. "My office. Please, take a seat." She gestured to an empty chair in front of her desk. Zara got to her feet, but remained there, not making a move for the chair. "No." I sighed, and gently pushed her into the chair, keeping my hands on her shoulders as she struggled, holding her down.

She gave up eventually, and sat there, scowling. "Who are you people?" she asked, focusing on Sir Integra. "We are the Hellsing organization," she said, rummaging in her desk, probably looking for the paperwork. "and you are one of our former employees, assumed dead for the past three years." She pulled out a manila envelope, pushing it across the desk. Zara flicked it open, looking at the lines inside. She pulled out a picture of her, frowning as she studied it. "This isn't me." She said, looking up at us. Integra looked surprised. "It is, I assure you." She glanced at me. "What do you say?" I cleared my throat. "That was you when we last saw you."

She laughed, and lifted her glasses up slightly. She put them back down, as if remembering something. "Can you turn the lights off?" she asked, leaning back in her chair. Integra nodded jerkily at me. I flicked the switch, and I heard a faint sigh of relief from Zara. Her back was to me, but I saw her take off her glasses, and heard Integra's gasp. She turned to me, and I felt the hair on the back of my neck raise. Her eyes were glowing, ever so slightly, and they had slitted cat's pupils. "As I said, I'm pretty sure that isn't me." She said, turning around and putting the glasses back on. I flicked the lights back on. "Your eyes are still the same color though." I said through gritted teeth.

She sighed. "Let's cut to the chase, shall we? I'm not stupid. I don't know how you people found out about me, or the fact I can't remember my past at all, but I'm not stupid. You _say _you know who I am. You _claim_ to know about my past. _But you have no proof_. How should I know this isn't some elaborate scheme to get Big Red here his lunch?" she pointed at me insultingly. "But maybe I'm wrong. Prove me wrong." She folded her arms smugly. I reached inside my jacket for her necklace. I was unsure whether or not to give it to her, but it might help her remember.

"Here" I said, holding it out to her. She turned in her chair partially, then all the way when she saw what I was holding. Her brow creased in a faint frown as she took it, then eased into that blank, vague expression she had when I called her Zara. One finger gently traced its curves, and her lips moved like she was saying words. She suddenly handed it back to me. "Never seen it before…I think." She said, giving it one last puzzled look. She turned back to Sir Integra, who was lighting a cigar. I felt a wave of fear, so strong that it almost wiped out her own smell, and she jerked out of her chair, sending it crashing to the ground. She was screeching, backing away from the desk.

I put a hand on her shoulder, and she twisted in my grip, screaming again and again. She jumped out of my grasp, landing on a bookshelf and climbing as high as it would allow, the huddling in the farthest corner away from the tiny flame of Sir Integra's lighter. She whimpered, chanting over and over under her breath "FirefirefirefirefirefirefirefireFIRE!" I stared at her along with Integra. "She was never…" Integra began, but trailed off. I shook my head. "She was never afraid of fire. Ever."

_**No, Soarece isn't going to be mailed overseas. Imagine how painful it would be to haul her but all the way back to England! *shudders* Yeesh. I still have no before or after chapter info, so R, R, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**I'm getting bored with her being not-memory sufficient, so I'm going to give them back! This might seem a wee bit slap-dash, but I think it's a good idea. It gives her a **__reason__** to be resurrected. Oh, and flameslavier, the differences between Zara and Pisica are intentional, because Pisica is theoretically completely uninfluenced by what Zara would say or do, because she has no memory of the conflicts that shaped most of her early life (and personality) . I suppose the point is arguable that they **__are__** different characters, at least basically. But don't worry; Zara memories will now completely overwhelm her! (Question for drizzt, what's with the go team Alucard? I'm confused…)**_

_Soarece's POV:_

I stiffened in my coffin when I heard Pisica's mind-shrieks. I had no idea how she was doing that or how I heard her, but she needed help. I pushed the lid of my coffin up, whacking a plane loader in the side of the head. His friend yelped, then swore when he saw what happened. He came at me with a flashy cone looking thing, you know, the ones they use to signal planes with. I had no time for subtleties like hypnosis and karate-chopped his head. He wobbled, looking woozy, then fell over. I scrambled out of my coffin, closing and locking the lid. I hoisted it over my shoulder, running towards where I smelled Pisica's scent. I skidded to a stop at the entrance, feeling my sense of her fade abruptly.

I swore, kicking at the concrete and watching it crack. _Great, what do I do now?_ I stared at the new fault, then shrugged. _I find her when I start looking I guess. _I stepped forward, focusing on where the hell I might find Pisica, and felt a sick rushing sensation, which stopped as soon as I put my foot down. I looked around in surprise, seeing myself right in the middle of the airport, by a vending machine. I looked around, but no one was there, and I felt a moment's panic and confusion. _How'd I get here?_ I automatically ran through the list we had constructed. _Wait, didn't I hear somewhere vampire's could teleport?_

I tentatively stepped forward again, focusing on the attic where we slept. I felt a wrenching sensation in my gut, and the light around me temporarily blurred. When my vision cleared and my stomach settled, I saw the familiar dusty confines of the topmost floor of the abandoned house. I giggled, twirling around in a circle. _I can TELEPORT! How cool is that!? I can't wait to tell-_ I stopped twirling. _Oops._ I grabbed my coffin from its position on the floor, focusing really hard on Pisica, since I had no idea where she was. Maybe it was practice, but I think it was getting less, well, nauseous for me to do this. I blinked my eyes open, seeing I was on the front lawn of some fancy manor house.

I pushed my coffin under some bushes, then scanned the building from my spot in the tree. It was rather quiet, so I could hear a faint muttering coming from one of the lower floors. I looked, and saw Pisica's familiar face, staring out from a barred window in annoyance. She spotted me and waved frantically. I almost waved back, but remembered that I was supposed to be under cover. So I ran really, really fast, trying to get to her window unobserved. I made it, and she glared at me through the bars. "What took you so long?"

_Pisica's POV:_

It took me a really long time to come out of my fire-panic, because when I did I noticed that I was in, well, it wasn't _technically_ a cell, but it was made of stone with barred windows (window) and an iron door. So, until further notice, I was calling it a cell. I hopped up on the bed, clawing my way up to the windowsill, which was about ten feet off the ground. Another prison-like feature. I wrapped my hands around the bars, hanging on through sheer muscle strength, and will. "Stupid cell. Stupid fire-phobia." I grumbled, trying to rattle the bars. "Stupid food cravings."

I suddenly spotted a flash of movement in a nearby tree. I saw Soarece, balancing carefully on an outstretched limb, peering in my direction, with one hand over her eye to shade it from the sun's glare. I freed one hand for a moment to wave frantically, and then hurriedly grabbed the bar again before I slipped and fell back down. She brightened, putting one hand up like she was about to wave, then froze guiltily and lowered it. I had time to roll my eyes, because apparently she still sucked at being unnoticed. She ran over in a blur of movement that any human would find impossible to track, and skidded to a stop right next to my little window.

"What took you so long?" I grumbled, feeling a little miffed. She shrugged. "I found out I can teleport, how cool is that? I wanted to try it out, so I went back to the attic and then I forgot that you were kidnapped or whatever but I came right back over when I did remember, and what happened to you? Are you alright, did you get hurt, who-" I held up one hand to stop her flow of chatter. "Apparently I was a member of "Hellsing", and I died in the field. That's what the people said, but I don't trust them as far as you could swim." She looked hurt. "Hey! Wait, they said you knew them?" I would have folded my arms, but they were busy keeping me at eye level.

"Supposedly, but I still don't trust them. No offense, but they had a _vampire_ for a hit man." She nodded. "None taken. But this is your big chance, I say go for it." I rolled my eyes again. "And what'll happen to you? That guy shot both of us, and you're saying I should believe it when his boss says "join me, you used to be one of our operatives"? What do you think Hellsing even _does_?" She frowned, thinking it over. "Well, Hellsing is the name of a vampire hunter in Dracula, and the vampire shot both of us, thinking we were vampires, and, oh, umm…" I saw the wheels beginning to move in her head, despite the fact they were all very slow and rusty. "You're a _vampire_, genius, and they're vampire _hunters_. What's the bet you're on the hit list?"

She grimaced. "But you _need_ your memories back." I rolled my eyes. "Tell you what, break me out and I'll do a Google search. We find out what Hellsing is and what they do, and I'll maybe come join them. In the meantime, stay away from these people, and the only reason I won't be doing the same is at _your_ insistence. Maybe I can convince them to leave you alone." I said, moving my hands so I could give her a thumbs up. She nodded, reaching for the bars. A voice spoke up suddenly. "Despite wanting to listen more on this _fascinating_ conversation, I fear I must stop you there." I froze, knowing it was the male vampire from before. Soarece froze too.

_Don't do anything._ I pleaded silently in my mind. _Run, just run. Come back later, but you need to get out of here._ She glared at me, and I felt the message in her eyes, as well as hearing it in my head. _"No. My coffin is on the grounds here, and if they destroy it I'm in trouble."_ The vampire spoke up again. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting you face to face, won't you come in?" I was about to say she couldn't when Soarece melted through the wall next to me. "When'd you learn to do that?' I asked, impressed. She grinned at me. "I learned it teleporting."

The vampire stood in front of us, and I had time to study him carefully, my mind not fogged by pain, medications, anger, or panic. He was tall, towering over Soarece by a head, whereas my eyes were level with his chin, and I was pretty tall myself. He was wearing an old-fashioned red coat, and those red glasses. His hair was black, and a bit short and messy. He was staring at us too, so it was a while before anyone broke the silence. "Well, I suppose I better re-introduce myself." He said, shrugging and moving forward. He grabbed my hand, bringing it forward and brushing his cold lips against it. "My name is Alucard." He said, clearly waiting for me to give him my name. "Pisica." I said quietly, waiting until he was facing Soarece before scrubbing the back of my hand on my pants, making a face at her.

_Is this guy for real?_ I mouthed at her, composing myself before he turned back around. She giggled a little, and Alucard raised an eyebrow. "Well, explain yourselves. You were behind the vampire attacks in London recently?" he said briskly, leaning casually against the door. His pose didn't fool us for a minute. We both knew if we made so much as a twitch in the wrong direction, he would be shoving bullets into us without a seconds pause. "Yeah." I said, watching him warily. Soarece, however, didn't really care for cloak-and-dagger. "I was stocking up so I could travel on a plane overseas to America, so we could find out more about Pisica's past." She chirped, not seeing the exasperated glance I threw to the heavens. Alucard chuckled, and I glared at him.

"How did you two meet?" he asked, looking at me sidelong. "I was dumpster-diving for food and then I heard a sound and-" That was as far as she got before I clamped my hands around her mouth. "Before you tell him everything you know about me, maybe you should ask him why he's interested." I hissed in her ear. She flinched, like she had forgotten that detail. "Oh yeah…" I rolled my eyes, giving Alucard the _can-you-_believe_-her _look. He smirked. "I want to learn what you were doing these past three years." He said, looking directly at me. I briefly considered asking him why he would want to know, but then decided I didn't want to hear his answer. "Whatever. So what happens now?"

He sighed. "I take you and the vampire girl to see Sir Integra. We'll see what happens from there." We both glanced at each other. "Fine." I said, pushing past him, Soarece trailing behind me. I sniffed, smelling my own scent in this hallway, turning a corner, up the stairs, and so on. I heard Alucard behind me, but he seemed content to keep pace, openly asking Soarece questions about me. She however, seemed to have taken my hint and replied in monosyllables. We got to the door of Integra's office, or at least I hoped it was. I pushed it open, not bothering to knock. She was seated at her desk, a trail of smoke wafting up from her cigar. My eye twitched, but I managed to keep calm.

"Who is this?" she asked, staring at Soarece. She tried to reply, but Alucard cut her off. "The vampire who caused the incidents in London recently. She seems to be a friend of Zara here." He pointed at me, and I felt the familiar flash of confusion. Soarece edged closer to me. "Why are they calling you that?" she whispered. "No idea." I whispered back. "Vampire!" barked Integra, and we both snapped to attention. "How old are you?" She asked crisply. Soarece quietly replied. "I don't know. I'm about thirteen years that I can count. So, any age below eighteen really. I can't remember when I was small."

"When were you turned into a vampire?" She fidgeted, rubbing her arm. "Two years ago." Integra and Alucard both looked surprised. "Two years ago? And what are your abilities?" Soarece looked at me. "You got the list?" I rummaged around inside my pockets. I handed it to Sir Integra, and stood back to let her read. She looked it over, raising her eyebrows several times. She handed it back to me, and looked at Soarece. "Your abilities are far advanced. Centuries so. What, exactly, are you doing, and who are you draining?" She looked surprised, collapsing into the available chair.

"Umm, w-well…" she stuttered. "I've b-been traveling, with her" she nodded to me. "And hitchhiking and sometimes used my powers and I've just been drinking from tramps and drunks, you know, pickpocketer's targets. And every Sunday she gives me about a pint of blood. That's all really." Integra looked at me, frowning. "You shouldn't be able to give her so much blood. You'd die within a month or so." I folded my arms. "I've been doing it for roughly two years." Alucard cut in. "She's a regenerator. The bullet wounds look months old, not days."

Integra looked at both of us. "A thorough doctor's examination. For both of you, now. Alucard will show you the way there." I knew a dismissal when I heard it, and headed out the door with Soarece. Alucard walked ahead of us, not even turning around to see if we were following. He stopped abruptly, and I almost ran into him. I jerked back, not wanting to touch him in any way. He opened a door, holding it for us in a show of chivalry. I rolled my eyes at Soarece, who nodded. We walked in, waiting to see what the doctor wanted us to do.

_Alucard's POV:_

The vampire girl, Soarece, was in and out very quickly, as she was in the peak of health. Zara, however, was in there longer, as the doctor studied her many physical changes. He had placed her in a light hypnotic trance, and she simply stared at the wall, or the ceiling, as he examined her. He actually poked around in her mouth a little bit, and I watched out of curiosity. "Slightly lengthened canines, almost feline in structure. "He said to himself, tapping the mirror against her teeth. He had taken off her glasses, and her eyes were still the same lilac purple I remembered, although the pupils had lengthened as well. He flashed a light at them, and she squinted slightly in discomfort. "Extreme sensitivity to light, but almost supernaturally developed eyesight."

He used several other tools, examining her ears and nose as well. "Hearing, superb. Smell, incredible. Much stronger than _any_ known human, and almost as strong as that of a vampire's. Fascinating." He took a blood sample, and I had to leave for a moment, as I couldn't trust myself when that smell was in the air. When I came back, Zara was still in that trance, staring at the wall opposite her. She was sitting on a bed, and I knelt in front of her, looking at her blank features. She stared through me like I wasn't there, even when I waved a hand in front of her face. "What do you remember?" I asked quietly. She blinked dreamily. "Eyes, red eyes. Vampire eyes."

I raised my eyebrows. "Anything else?" Her face crumpled in confusion, then smoothed into that blank look I was beginning to hate. "No…I don't think so." The doctor called from the other room. "The trance is not designed for questioning sir, I would advise against it." I glared over Zara's shoulder at the partially open door. I slid the necklace into her pocket, not knowing why I did so. She needed it more than I did. The doctor gasped slightly. "I would go get Sir Integra if I were you. She needs to see this."

_Pisica's POV:_

The doctor had assured me that I would just fall asleep under the trance he put on me, and I did, or it felt like it. Blurred shapes pulsed around me, and I heard a voice say _"You foolish girl, you will ruin our work!"_ A lighter blur than the others drifted closer to me, and I frowned in puzzlement. _What work?_ The figure drew even closer, and I could make out the vague outline of a man. _"You were brought back for a reason! The Pazúry line must not fail, but you are undoing our efforts!"_ Other voices and shapes curled towards me. _"She is not the right one. We should have taken back another. Her brother would have done."_

The first light-blur whirled around. _"She is the last dead! We all agreed the enhancements would be easier on her." _The most outspoken blur drifted up next to me, and I could sense its hostility. _"The fail safe you put on her is failing. The mistakes of her past life will repeat themselves." _The other light blur converged, and I heard a blast of sound. _"WE DESTROYED HER MEMORY COMPLETELY! SHE HAS NO LINK TO HER PAST!"_ I cleared my throat. _Who are you people?_ The first light-thing turned to me. _"We are the ancestors of the Pazúry. I am the First. You are the last." _

I shrugged. _Okay then. What was it you wanted me to do? _The First seemed to be taking a deep breath. _"You must continue the line. We must survive."_ I put my hands on my hips. _So I'm supposed to be a baby producer? A breeder? Hello, I'M NOT EVEN A LEGAL AGE YET!_ The First waved a nonexistent hand. _"That is not your only task. You must survive as well, which is why you are enhanced. We altered your mortal frame before returning you. A mere explosion will not kill you again." _ I felt several emotions pass through me, rage and outrage featuring prominently, when the other orb spoke up.

_"She is repeating the mistakes of her past. Look, and see you fool! She is already back among the Hellsings!" _ I scratched my head. _How am I ruining things, and what mistakes was I making?_ The First explained _"We wiped your memories for a reason. You were getting too close to the wrong mate. You are ruining that by being back with him." _I shook with rage. _YOU BRAINWASHED ME BECAUSE YOU DIDN'T LIKE MY CHOICE OF BOYFRIEND!? WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT!? HOW DARE YOU-"_

The First cut me off. _"You are our descendant, and must obey us. That is all there is to it. What gives you the right to question our decisions? I am the First. The entire clan sprung from my shadow, as it will be reborn through you." _ I shook my head stubbornly. _No. And if you expect me to breed just because you said so, that makes the no a HELL NO! _I tried desperately to wake up, because I really wanted to ask Soarece what I should do about this. I felt something give, then I was blinking away sleep, looking at Sir Integra, who was staring at a blood chart.

"What's wrong?" I asked groggily, still feeling the effects of the hypnotism. She put it down on the table. "You're blood has several times the reproductively of any human in medical history." Said the doctor examining me. I looked at Sir Integra. "What?" I asked, feeling confused, and knowing she would state it simply. "You are aware of how babies are made?" the doctor said patiently, looking at me. I rolled my eyes. "I spent three years living in the slums sir. I've _seen_ babies being made." He coughed, trying to cover his embarrassment.

Integra cut in. "You are aware that pregnancy is not guaranteed?" she said, looking at the chart again. "Yeah…" I said slowly, wondering where this was going. "For you, it is almost a certainty. You're almost _guaranteed_ to produce babies, should you encounter" here she coughed. "That particular problem." I raised my eyebrows, trying to think of a way I could beat First and the other s to death (again) for their "enhancements". "Not something I was planning on doing anyway." I said, looking around to make sure we were the only ones here. She nodded. "Other than that, welcome back to Hellsing!"

_**First question on all your minds, no, she's not going to stop being a virgin. I **__hate__** romance, so imagine how bad I would be at that sort of thing. I've planned it all out, you'll see. She does get pregnant, but remains a virgin. Like Mary, if you're Christian. See, I thought I really wanted her to have a family, so I figured if her reproductive rate is so high, all she has to do is get a male's DNA inside her. (Spit, hair, nails, **__blood__**, excreta) Her kid's going to be so cute! I can't tell you gender yet, but think chibi with cat ears. I know, adorable image! I'll try to get a picture up when you see what gender it is. So no, no lemons, no smut, no stuff like that. Don't say anything smutty, I hate those jokes (plus my mom reads the reviews, and she might give me a talking to). Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Terribly sorry about the lack of updates on Friday, but it was 60 freaking degrees out. That was the sort of day that hauls your lazy but out of bed, and punts you out the door, with Nature screaming "GO PLAY OUTSIDE!" in your eardrums. So I played cops and robbers with the neighborhood kids, rigged a pulley system on our tree to carry messages, biked to my sister's school, which is two miles there and back. Then when I got back in I had an epiphany for my book, and spent most of the night writing on that. Yeah, two days ago we had a three inch snow cover, now; we got a scorching summer heat wave. Seriously, I'm not kidding. Snow Thursday, warm-up Friday and now it's so warm we got all the windows open. Summer has come with a vengeance. No before chapter info, but plenty of after. Go read.**_

_Pisica's POV:_

After my check up, Integra appointed Alucard to show me and Soarece our rooms, and give us a tour. "And this is where the mercenaries target practice." Call me paranoid, but he didn't sound too thrilled about showing us around. A boy was shooting at a target, and Alucard pointed at him. "That boy is leader of our younger mercenary group, the Halloween Division. His name's Techno and he lives to prank people. Don't trust a word he says." Techno turned, seeing Alucard standing in front of us. "Hey, Alucard, you want something?" He shook his head. "Just showing these two around." Techno looked around Alucard at the pair of us.

"Hey, wait, is that…" he tackled me to the floor, hugging me around my waist. "CAPTAIN, I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!" I shrieked, and Soarece pried him off me. I dusted myself off, throwing him a glare. "What the hell was that for?" I growled, putting my hands on my hips. He looked bewildered. "Umm, is she ok sir?" he asked Alucard, who was rolling his eyes. "She doesn't remember anything before she died. And no, you don't get a clean slate. _I _remember every single prank you've ever done." Techno stared at me. "Well, I was your second in command, and you were my best friend and always let me-" He was cut off by Alucard. "He's just your second in command."

Techno turned to see Soarece, who was glaring at him as well. "Umm, who is this?" he asked, looking startled. "Soarece, and you better not prank me or I will drain you dry." She said, folding her arms. He looked hurt. "Is that all you think of me? I'm hurt." He pretended to look sad, then marched away with a wounded air. I looked at Alucard "I hung out with people like him?" Alucard was hiding a smirk. "He's just the beginning. You should wait until you've seen everyone here."

_***Time Skip***_

Three months in, and I finally understood what Alucard was talking about. There was not one person here who did not deserve at least weekly visits to the loony bin. Techno, who apparently had an endless supply of pranks, including water temperature changes, oil slicks on the floor, replacement of items like blood packs with colored paint or some other noxious substance, locked doors, favorite snack depletion, and other such things. You name it, he's done it to someone here at some point or another. Sadly, we could never prove who did it, even when everyone knew it was him.

Maniac, who had already blown the kitchen up twice in her experiments with different bomb materials, was okay. She was not too bad as a friend, but you could never talk to her without her grabbing your hand and dragging you off to her latest demonstration. Auger, who was mainly just a bookworm, was okay too. She just was so dang smart, she would fire off facts when you asked her something, then when you asked her how she knew that, she would quote some old website or book page, giving minute details like page number or stains on the paper.

Then there was Adit and the H.D. They were a mixed bunch, and their idea of a good time was to grab guns and blow a random target to pieces. They also engaged in mock wars with the other mercenary team. Did I mention that they were all way too young to even own a gun? Pip, the leader of the "Wild Geese" had an eye patch, a braid and a French accent. His level of crazy was mostly aimed towards, well, his job. His idea of a good time was to get drunk and _then_ blowing a target to pieces. His men were mostly of the same temperament.

Sir Integra, the chain-smoking knight, was strict and rigid. She wore suits all the time, and was pretty crabby. I couldn't blame her, I mean, she had grown up, apparently, with Alucard. I was surprised she was still even mildly sane. Roger, her butler, was nice enough, but heaven help you if he got his hands on your laundry. I had to look for days to even find it, because apparently he just left it stacked in the laundry room. And don't even get me started about how he folded stuff. I had to actually ask for help to get it unfolded, and he kept giving me these disbelieving looks, like he couldn't believe I didn't know how to unfold laundry when it was done in "the proper English fashion".

Seras, Alucard's fledgling, was okay, but she was way too paranoid. And wimpy. And girlish. "Well if you had Alucard in your head all day, you would be paranoid too!" she yelled once, when I accidentally commented upon this. "If you drank blood, you would be able to keep him out!" I screamed back, a bit exasperated with her. Speaking of Alucard, he was the looniest one of all. I kept seeing him melt into a wall behind me, and I constantly had this watching sensation. "He's like, stalking me!" I complained to Soarece once, in a flashlight-lit conference.

"People stalking, or prey stalking?" she asked, pushing a broom away from her face. I shrugged, coughing a little in the dusty confines of the closet. "I don't know. For him, it could be both." She nodded sympathetically. "Well, what will you do about it?" she asked, waving the flashlight back and forth. I hunched my shoulders miserably, fingering that necklace I found in my pocket. It was pretty, but I always had this feeling of emptiness when I thought about it, so I wore it often, trying to figure it out. "I don't know. I could confront him, but what would I say? What would that accomplish?"

She rubbed her chin. "Maybe you could ask Sir Integra about it. She might know." I brightened. "Good idea!" I burst out of the closet, leaving her behind to wonder at my sudden excitement. I skidded to a stop outside Sir Integra's office, panting. I heard a familiar voice coming from behind a closed door. "Please I'll do anything you say! I'll wash dishes, I'll clean the windows, I'll not prank anyone, just let us do this!" I opened the door, seeing Techno kneeling in front of Sir Integra's desk. She looked at him in annoyance, then sighed. "Fine. On the condition you do not prank anyone for a month, you may go. Bring Zara." I blinked, feeling the familiar rush of dizziness accompanying that name.

"Umm, Sir Integra, where are we going?" I asked, momentarily averted from my other question. She sighed again, putting her head in her hands. "Techno is taking you, Soarece, and the H.D. to a day at the beach. You are going to have a break." She said, cutting off my protest. I sighed. "Yes Sir Integra." I said sullenly, scraping the floor with my shoes. Techno led the way out of her office, grinning cheerfully. He smirked at me. "You do realize-" I cut him off. "-that she never specified _when_ the month of no pranking was? Yes. She should be used to that kind of ambiguity dealing with you."

_**Okay, here's how it stands. I wanted to develop some of Zara's new powers, so I'm sticking her at a beach! In case you really wanted to know my genius plan with Techno and Soarece, you'll have to wait until next chapter. This was mostly filler, because I won't be able to post anything better today, possibly this weekend, because my sister has her First Communion. That means dressing up, going out to church on a Saturday, and sitting there looking smiley while secretly trying not to shriek and run away screaming "BORED!" *sigh* So, I'm cutting this a bit short. Sorry. R, R, Rcomment, excreta. Auf Wedersien! **_


	9. Chapter 9

_**I'm going to still have the points of Zara/Pisica POV be called Pisica, because she is currently the dominant, oh, I don't know, personality. When she gets all her memories back, and accepts them (which may be at different dates) it will again be called Zara POV. Also, I am toying with the notion of TechnoxSoarece. It might do his character good to be in hopeless love, plus it makes for some really good awkward scenes. Let me know if you like this idea, and I'll go on with it.**_

_Alucard's POV:_

I let out a quiet sigh of relief when Zara trudged by, feet dragging. She had almost reported me to Sir Integra, who had no idea I was following her around. I couldn't help it, I kept worrying about her. But she kept almost catching me, which, although confirming my theory about her being somehow enhanced, was not very useful when I was trying to follow her. Night vision, extremely fast reflexes, supersensory hearing and smell, regeneration, she was turning out to be quite the little scrapper. I wondered how long she would last against me… but fighting with her was probably not the best way to help regain her memories _Oh well._

_Pisica's POV:_

I kicked at my door despondently. Okay, Techno and the other mercenaries needed a break. Fine, perfectly normal and aboveboard. What I didn't get is why Soarece and I needed to come. Soarece, who had somewhat of a privacy issue these days, melted through the wall next to me. "What's wrong with you? Sir Integra give you a weird answer?" I swallowed hard. "No…we have to go to the beach with Techno and the others." She stared at me. "Like…with no Alucard, or Seras, or the Wild Geese?" I nodded. "Yeah."

She hugged me tightly, causing my vision to go spotty for a second. "What are you so gloomy for!? We get to have fun with no grownups! C'mon, we need to get swimsuits and stuff!" She dragged me rapidly down the hall, not listening to my protests. "BUT I DON'T WANT TO GO TO A PLACE WITH PEOPLE!" I shrieked, cutting off her chatter. "But… there will be _boys_." She said, staring at me in bewilderment, saying _boys_ like they were some kind of necessity. I barely managed the urge to smash my, or better yet her, head into a wall. "Precisely the reason I _don't_ want to go."

Her mouth firmed into that thin line that meant I was in trouble. She grabbed my ear instead of my arm and yanked me along the hall. "You are going to come to that beach with me and the others-" she said, ignoring my yelps of pain. "-and you are going to enjoy yourself, or I'll want to know the reason why. Got it?" She let go of my ear. I rubbed it, scowling at her. "Yeah, sure, fine." She nodded, no doubt already planning some other things for our little "vacation".

_***Time Skip***_

I stared distastefully at Soarece's latest suggestion. "First off, I'm not wearing hot pink. Second, that's a bikini. Third, and most important, that's not even close to my size." She pouted, putting it back on the rack. "Well, what do you want to wear? We're almost out of choices for bikinis!" I rolled my ears, putting my head in my hands. "Here's a thought. Maybe we should try and find one that covers more than the bare minimum. Like, say, a one piece. I'll even say maybe to a tankini." She sighed. "Okay, fine. Don't blame me if no one takes an interest in you."

She came back with another armload of suggestions. I looked through them, occasionally offering comments. "No, too frilly. Oh my god, I didn't even know pink could _get _that neon. Ow! This one hurts my eyes! Too many straps, I mean, it's like a ball of yarn. This one would have been okay, but they put way too many beads and junk on it. Eww, this one looks like you drenched it in snot." Finally, after three piles of such garbage, I found one that was mostly acceptable. It was so maybe that I changed into it and showed Soarece.

"Wow, that one's great!" she said, walking around me. I looked down at myself. Light green and dark blue swirled together with tiny gold flecks, a bit like the sea on a sunny day. It was a one piece, with a slightly open back, crossed by two straps. The neckline was actually somewhere above my belly button. It would do. "If you say so." I said slowly, going back in the stall to change back. We had already purchased goggles and such, so after we bought our swimsuits we went home. I slid into my room, putting my shopping bag on the floor. I felt the now-familiar woozy sensation when I looked around the bedroom. Soarece had helped me piece together a coherent theory, namely that the First and his bunch had brainwashed me, and whenever I saw something that reminded me, they short-circuited my brain.

Sadly, this kinda backfired for them. If I saw an object that I would know in my past life, I might forget about it. If I saw it and felt a wave of dizziness, sometimes accompanied by headaches, it was a lot harder to forget. The cat necklace was a prime example. I always wore it, but I forgot about it so often that when I felt it swing on its chain, I got a fresh wave of nausea. The idea was to wear out the fail-safe, and I don't know whether or not it was working yet. Desperation on my part could contribute to that.

I sat down on the bed, thinking. Maybe I could ask someone. If First had said I was getting to close to the wrong person, who should I ask about it? Soarece wasn't from my past life. Techno couldn't hold a serious conversation. Maniac, Auger, and the others would have it spread all over the place before you said "gossip". Integra probably had no clue who it was. Seras might, but she shared a mind-link with Alucard, whom I certainly did not want to know I was asking around. So that left…Roger. I brightened. Roger, despite the fact he made laundry tie itself in knots that he called folds, was a rather nice guy. I would ask Roger.

I jumped out of bed and skipped towards the door. I yanked it open and stepped out, running into something very stiff and immovable. I backed away and looked up, seeing Alucard occupying my doorway completely. "No." he growled, and I blinked, confused. "No, what?" I snapped, feeling a little angry. He stared at me, folding his arms. "You are not going to ask Roger, or anyone else, about who you "liked" in your past life." I clenched my fists. I was getting very tired of males (First certainly sounded like one at least) who ordered me around with no good reason. "Why" I asked through clenched teeth. He raised his eyebrows. "Because I told you to." He said, slightly shifting position.

I glared at him, folding my arms as well. "You don't have any authority over me." I snapped. A slight smirk appeared on his face, and he moved again. "You can either listen to what I say, or I'm going to hypnotize you into doing it. We both prefer the first option." I sighed. _Okay, he wins that particular discussion._ "Why don't you want me to ask anyone about it?" I said, feeling faintly curious about it, even if I was really mad at him. He looked away from me, not answering. Pieces started falling into place.

I stepped forward. "Why don't you want anyone to know?" I asked, my voice getting slightly louder. He clenched his teeth, still not saying anything. I sighed, feeling the anger simmer down in me. I turned away from him, heading back to my bed. "Fine, don't say anything. I'll just stumble around in the dark some more." I could hear the bitterness start to seep into my tone, but I couldn't stop talking. "After all, I've been doing it for three years. I'm blind to my past, and blind in the present, and I'll most likely stay blind in the future."

I knew I was starting to overstep here, but the words spilled from my mouth like water from a broken dam. "I can't even see in the real world. The light burns my eyes like I'm on fire all over again. I'm light-blind and dark-blind. Do you know what it's like? Do you know how it feels to not remember _anything_, just waking up covered with burns? To have your whole life just one big blank? To sometimes wake up in the morning, and think you've forgotten your new life as well? Stumbling in the dark is all I can remember how to do."

I felt him slam me into a wall, finally cutting off my flow of words. He looked just as mad as I had felt a few moments ago, and I wondered how long he would take to kill me. He hissed, and I smiled. "Go on," I choked out, feeling his grip tighten. "Squeeze just a little harder, and I'm dead. Put me out of my misery." He blinked, looking surprised. "No." I felt a wave of disappointment surge through me. "Why not?" was all I could think to ask. He looked away from me again, then let go. I slid to the ground, refusing to gasp and get my oxygen back.

He looked back at me, and I was surprised to see blood on his face. How had he gotten cut? Was it from me? I looked down, but I was not bleeding anywhere. I looked back up at him, feeling confused. I heard him say quietly "Even if you don't remember anything, you're back. Losing you once was bad enough. I will not lose you a second time." I stared into his eyes, feeling very sleepy all of a sudden. He sighed, and I realized dimply I wasn't blinking. "Go to sleep." I heard him say, and felt myself fall forward, unconscious before I hit the floor.

_Alucard's POV:_

I gently picked her up, silently adding the command for her to forget about our conversation. She sighed, squirming slightly. I smiled sadly, even though she had forgotten how to resist mind control and mind-reading, she still had trouble accepting orders. I put her in her bed, arranging the blankets so it looked like she could have pulled them up herself. I saw a tiny spot of red appear on the blanket and frowned. Then I realized the blood from my tears was still on my face, and I quickly absorbed it. I knew Sir Integra, and probably some of the other people here knew about my feelings for Zara, but it was one thing for them to suspect and quite another for them to have the suspicions confirmed.

_Pisica's POV:_

I woke up the next morning, feeling extremely groggy. "Oog…" I moaned rubbing my head. _I must have really remembered something to have this head-ouch._ I straightened up, hearing happy shouts come from across the hall. I moaned again, burying my face in the pillow. _Please let them forget about me, please let them forget about me, please let them forget about me, please let them forget about me, please-_ "WAKE UP!" Soarece slammed the door open. "C'MON, LET'S _GO_, WE GOT THINGS TO DO THIS FINE MORNING, AND THEY DO NOT INCLUDE GETTING YOUR LAZY BUT OUT OF BED!"

I flipped over, covering my head with the pillow. "But I like being in bed…" I groaned into it. Typical of Soarece, she ignored my heartfelt plea. I felt a cold hand on my ankle and she literally dragged me out of bed, kicking and screaming. She tossed me in the bathroom, throwing my swimsuit and towel in after me. "If you're not changed in five minutes I'm changing you myself." I threw my swimsuit on, brushing my teeth and thinking over how successful I would be if I tried to sneak silver into her blood packs. True to her word, she phased through the door precisely five minutes later, and started brushing my hair with rapid, painful strokes. She dragged me over to the kitchen, throwing an apple and a box of cereal at my head.

I caught them both and started eating, watching her gloomily as she heckled the other H.D. members for being late. I wrapped my towel around my shoulders after I finished, dozing in my chair. I felt her next to me and quickly tried to escape, but to no avail. She grabbed my ear, hoisting me upright. "GET UP!" she threw me bodily out the door and the mercenary group all commented sympathetically. "She didn't get any sleep last night." Said Maniac, chewing on a pear. I winced, getting to my feet. "I noticed." I walked unsteadily over to the van, piling in with everyone else as we waited for the Screaming Death to appear so we could leave.

Thankfully she was pretty quiet on the ride there, and I managed to catch up on a few hours of sleep. So, when the sea came into view, sparkly and shiny and pretty, I could appreciate it with everyone else. The beach, by some miracle of nature, was not all that full, and we could all stretch out our towels and stuff if we wanted to sunbath. I didn't see the point of it, so I walked hesitantly over to the water's edge. My goggles were pretty dark, so I could see fine. I dipped a toe in, noticing the fairly warm temperature. "Cannonball!" Techno shouted, splashing into the water next to me and soaking me thoroughly. I shook my head. "Thanks."

He grinned at me, almost completely submerged. "I try to help the unfortunate. Do you know how to swim?" I shrugged. "I guess I'll find out." I said, backing up to take a running start into the water. I jumped, landing in the deep water with a splash. I blinked my eyes open, seeing the bubbles around me slowly start to disappear. Then I realized two things. One, water was not good for the lungs. Two, I did know how to swim. I kicked off the bottom, spluttering and hacking. "What's wrong?" Maniac asked, sliding over to me like a torpedo. "I forgot to hold my breath." I said, gasping.

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that's important. Don't forget in future." I shrugged sheepishly. She swam back to shore, where the others were haggling with a man for his surfboards. The shop sign above him said "18 and over" but they seemed to be convincing him otherwise. Soon the surf around me was covered with teens, laughing and splashing each other. Techno was the instigator of this, as he seemed to be able to make a squirt gun by clasping his hands together in some complicated fashion. I dove back under the water, noticing with interest that I could hold my breath for about five minutes.

The next ten minutes were spent knocking Techno off his surfboard, which got him so annoyed he paddled off to a spot farther out to sea. I then created havoc with the others, until some figured out a trick to stop me from capsizing them. I dove deeper, looking for some form of entertainment. I heard a voice, which seemed really odd sounding, coming from my right. _"Food, food. Turtle-food? Food. Hungry. Need food. Turtle-food."_ I swam off towards the voice, interested in whoever could talk underwater, even if all they talked about was food.

I froze, seeing a shadowy shape in the water under Techno's surfboard. A shark was looking up at his board, and it looked hungry. Speaking of… _"Turtle Food? Or seal-food? Food. Hungry. Want food." _I gaped in shock, even though I was underwater. The shark talked? Or, now that I came to think of it, it wasn't actually talking. I was hearing him think or something like that. "NO!" I screamed, even though the water rushed down my throat. The shark jerked to one side, and I could see its fins had white tips. _"MY FOOD!" _it rushed towards me, and I streaked upright.

"Not food!" I said, spitting out more water as I did. The shark circled a few meters away, looking suspicious. _"Turtle-food. Seal-food."_ It somehow showed me a mental image, a blurry one that looked a bit like a person on a surfboard, only fatter. _"Seal-food."_ It showed me another image, one much shorter and wider than the first one, but still blurred. _"Turtle-food."_ It jerked its nose upright, at the surfboard. _"Food."_ I shook my head, frantically thinking of ways to show that Techno, and his board, were not food.

"Not food…umm, shell! Float-shell!" I pointed upward, thinking of a shell drifting above us. The shark looked doubtful. _"Float-shell food?"_ I shook my head. "Float-shell bad, taste like…" I thought frantically of what a shark might dislike. "Like sea slug." The shark backed away, looking, if this was possible, disgusted. _"Float-shell bad. Shark-not-shark right."_ I cocked my head. "Shark-not-shark?" it suddenly rushed at me, and gently prodded my chest. _"Talk like shark, but not like shark. Smell like shark, but smell different. Move different, but same. Shark, not-shark."_

I gently patted the shark's nose, glad to be over our little disagreement. "Shark-not-shark. What's your name?" It paused, as if thinking. _"Name?"_ I waved my hands in the water. "How do you stand out?" I suddenly looped around me, twisting in the water. _"No name. Just markings. All different with markings."_ I shrugged. "Well, I'll call you Mark. Mark the shark. Bye Mark!" I swam upwards, waving to him. He watched me go, drifting sideways. _"Bye shark-not-shark."_

I surfaced next to Techno. "I have just had word that you look like a seal, and/or a turtle." He looked affronted. "Who said that?" I grinned at him. "Oh, nobody. Just a shark who was about to ram you. He says you looked _exactly_ like one." Techno immediately drew all his limbs out of the water, huddling on his board. "Relax, I called him off." I said, winking. I dipped my head back underwater, seeing Mark swim off into the open ocean. _"Mark owes shark-not-shark. Mark comes if shark-not-shark wants. Call Mark."_ I withdrew my head. "And apparently sea slugs are poisonous to sharks."

_**I have no idea if they actually are poisonous, but sharks can't eat everything. I think one particular species actually is, but that's just something my little sister told me. She's like a shark master, so she might know. Yes, they aren't done at the beach, because I'll need input on the TechnoxSoarece question first. Say yes, or no, please, even if you've never reviewed before. I will listen to you! Cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. I'm picking up again, so hopefully I've left this writers block down in the dumps. I hope I hope I hope I hope I hope (Five hour interlude) I hope I hope I hope I hope I hope, I really do! R, R, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	10. Chapter 10(oddly a lot of shark stuff)

_**MWUHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I can't wait to get this going! There's going to be a little surprise, so watch out! Don't worry; we shall be seeing more of Mark the shark. He's going to be Zara/Pisica's newest familiar! Just to make something clear, before she could only have furred, mammal, or at a stretch bird familiars. But now, due to First and the others, she gets fishes too! Oh, how my sister will hate me for calling sharks fish… but they technically are, but they're in a different subclass. SHARKS ARE NOT FISH; THEY ARE IN A SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT CLASS ORDER! There, I've done all I can not to spread disinformation. : P Anyway, sharks also don't attack people out of the blue. They have very good reasons, mostly consisting of A) It moves like a dying fish, B) it's on my turf, and C) I want to see what it is. (Sharks find things out by biting them, much like toddlers. They usually spit us out afterwards, but one curious bite for them is kinda damaging.) Dang, I really went into a lecture about sharks here didn't I? Sorry. I tried pasting a photo here of a white tip, but it may not take **_

_Techno's POV:_

I stared at Zara, who certainly looked dead serious. "You talked, to a _shark_." She rubbed the back of her head. "Talk, kinda. Discuss more like, and by the way, what kind of sharks has little white tips at the end of their fins?" I scratched my head. "White-tips? Yeah, could be. You see them in aquariums sometimes. What was it like?" She swam around in a circle, thinking. "Rather simple. His thoughts, that is. I quote "_Food. Hungry. Need food" and that were just cruising thoughts." I snickered._

_ "Well, he's no politician. Hey, I wanted to ask you something, and I swear on what's left of my soul I'm honest." She stopped swimming and stared at me, waiting. "I, well, you know Soarece?" She nodded slowly, looking confused. I took a deep breath. "Is she going out with anyone?" I said as quickly as I could, trying as hard as I could not to blush. She raised an eyebrow, smiling. "No, not at the moment. Is poor Techno suffering from a case of teenage hormones?" I clenched my fists. "Don't say anything witty or I will chance a shark attack and prank you."_

_ She rolled her eyes. "Yeah, sure, your secrets safe with me." I brightened. "Really?" I said, trying not to sound so grateful. I could feel my face heating up. "Do you think…I have a chance with her?" I said, avoiding eye contact. She actually appeared to consider this. "Once you convince her you're not doing it as a prank, I'm sure she'll warm up to you. That's the tricky part." I sighed, trying to think of a way past that particular obstacle._

_Pisica's POV:_

I slowly swam away, watching Techno mull over his position. If he was serious, I was going to laugh myself sick watching his attempts to win poor Soarece's heart. I swam straight over to Soarece, who was playing Marco-Polo with a group of boys from the H.D. "Hey, Soarece!" I called, hoping to attract her attention. She paddled over, looking at me in confusion. "I have just had word that somebody likes you." I said into her ear, whispering. She started and looked at me in shock. "Really? Who!" I smirked, turning on my whole high-and-mighty act. "He made me swear not to tell."

She rolled her eyes, but I could tell she was deeply interested. I backed away, letting her go back to her game of Marco-Polo. I heard a faint sound, but it was hard to distinguish among the crashing waves. I stuck my head under the water, hearing someone yelling. _"Shark-not-shark, come! Mark is bitten!" _I didn't stop for a second to question what a stupid idea it would be for me to go after an animal, or person, that could hurt a shark, and a big one, I just went. A few second of swimming and I was there, seeing Mark swimming in a slow circle, bleeding from a shoulder wound.

_Mark!_ I tried calling with my mind, which was much better than with my mouth when underwater. He turned, and I saw a slash-like bite, most likely made by long, sharp teeth. I went up to him a put a hand on his shoulder, not knowing what else to do. He twitched under me, then grew calm. I realized that he was still a very young shark, and probably panicked. _Mark, what happened?_ He swam in a circle, and I was forced to swim with him. _"Mark doesn't know. Mark didn't see. Mark felt bite and saw no biter. Shark-not-shark explain?"_ I chewed on my lip, feeling shocked at his show of dependence on me. _What would happen if shark-not-shark was not here?_ He slowed, growing a little calmer.

_"Mark blood find other sharks. They be hungry, and come hungry. They want food, and Mark is small, like fish."_ I hurriedly patted his back, seeing he was starting to panic again. _Shark-not-shark has an idea. Mark bite shark-not-shark, and other sharks come after shark-not-shark, and you swim away._ Mark rolled one coal black eye up to me. _"Shark-not-shark not fast swimmer. Other sharks swim faster, eat shark-not-shark." _I shook my head, feeling nervous. _Shark-not-shark knows ways to hide. Float-shells are good places for shark-not-shark, drive other sharks away._ He paused to consider my option.

_"Shark-not-shark be safe?"_ he asked, backing away slightly. I nodded, bracing myself. _Shark-not-shark be fine. Bite me._ He rushed at me, like he had before, but instead of backing away, hit me full on, jaws grabbing my leg hard, cutting through the skin, then jerking slightly. He backed away, and my blood was already starting to leak into the water. He shook his head, like a dog getting rid of water. "_Shark-not-shark blood smell good, like fat seal. Shark-not-shark needs to swim _fast_, very fast."_

I waved at him, already trying to swim away. He had missed most of the muscles, and my only problem was blood, which was now a dark cloud around my leg. He swam in the other direction, as fast as he could. I broke through the surface, shouting "HELP!" before sinking back down a little. I swam back to shore, using strong, easy movements that wouldn't agitate any pursuers into attacking me head on. People were already getting out of the water, as there was really only one plausible reason for me bleeding like crazy in the ocean.

I felt something graze my unwounded leg slightly, then I was wrenched back under the water by another shark, one that looked very different from Mark. Mark had a flatter head, and a plumper, more ungainly body shape. Everything about this shark screamed SPEED. Pointed nose, torpedo body, small fins to cut down resistance, and powerful muscles were all signs of a fast top predator. It also had needle sharp teeth, ones that looked very capable of inflicting the wound I saw on Mark's shoulder. I cursed in my head, thinking about how stupid I had been assuming the shark that attacked Mark would be long gone. My ankle was caught in that needle factory, and I punched at the shark's nose, trying to get it to let me go. It flinched, but held on.

I tried grabbing for its thoughts, but all I could catch was an insatiable hunger. I twisted in the water, a scream bubbling in my throat as teeth shifted in wounds, and hit it with my other foot as hard as I could. It let go, and I burst through the surface, gasping and swimming for the shore, hearing other people's cries of joy at my reappearance. I felt something ram me from below, actually lifting me out of the water as I felt a sting of pain along my side. I hit the water with a painful smack, and I saw the shark circling in the water below me, building up speed for another ram. I looked at my side, seeing a thin red line where it managed to score me with its teeth. It wasn't deep, but it stung when I tried to swim faster back to shore, thinking I might be able to be this stupid shark.

No such luck. This time it hit my shoulder, actually using its mouth instead of its nose, biting into me hard. I screamed, feeling myself being lifted out of the water again from the force of the blow. I felt for its mind again, but this time I only caught anger, as well as more hunger. I landed in the water a few meters away, but felt hands grabbing my arms, hauling me to shore, and I realized dimly that I was now in shallow water. I looked up, seeing the blurred faces of Soarece and a lifeguard, both shouting at me. "Oh god, you're bleeding!" she cried, looking horrified. "Miss, how many fingers do you see?" said the lifeguard, holding up two fingers. I answered Soarece first.

"Yes I'm bleeding, what do you expect? A shark bites me and I'll be magically unharmed? Two fingers mam, and what does that have to do with being attacked by a shark?" The lifeguard picked me up, yelling at Soarece to call 911. "You were rammed several times by that shark, and you hit the water hard. A concussion is just as serious as blood loss right now." I heard sirens in the distance, and let my head fall back on the lifeguard's shoulder. I heard a voice, two voices actually, getting closer, Sir Integra… oh no, and Alucard! I was never going to hear the end of this from Soarece. I felt myself being pulled from the lifeguard, and Alucard's voice sounded much closer as I crashed into someone else's chest.

I heard the lifeguard protest "Sir, please! She needs medical care!" I felt whoever holding me talk back, but I was so dizzy I could hardly hear him, never mind what he was saying. What I did get, however, was his tone of voice. Definitely Alucard. He was never in a mood to be questioned. I moaned, trying to lean back and get back to the nice lifeguard, and more importantly her medical care. His voice broke off and I was stunned to feel a hand stroke my hair gently.

My focus suddenly sharpened and I managed to catch "-she'll need specialized care, care the Hellsing organization can and will provide." That must be Sir Integra. A voice much closer to me rumbled. "Shhhh, it will be alright. Just hold on a little longer." I felt another shock. Alucard talking nicely, holding me gently, and being soothing? _This is not happening. There is no way this is happening._ That was the last coherent thought I could muster, before I felt blackness well up in my sight and my knees buckle.

_Alucard's POV:_

I felt her collapse, and sent a mental signal to Sir Integra. She immediately cut herself off, saying. "Fine, although we may have slightly different ideas on how she must be treated, she needs care _now._ I will talk about the mechanics on a later date." I silently handed Zara to the people with the table, watching as they drove away in an ambulance. After they were gone, Integra turned to me. "Make sure they do not find anything out about her enhanced state." She said crisply, turning back to the car we had arrived in. I blinked, feeling shock and joy. I could go after her? Without further encouragement I phased away, following the ambulance to a nearby hospital, one that looked in relatively good repair.

I waited until the doctors had carried Zara in, then materialized, striding up the steps. I paused at the desk, asking for which room she had gone to. The woman there stared at me. "Umm, sir? She's having an operation. You won't be able to see her until she's conscious, and probably not even then. Please, wait over there." She pointed to a couch where some other people were sitting, all looking as nervous as I felt. I sat down, not even caring that some of the other people immediately protested my presence. I waited tensely, hearing the scrape of knives down the corridor, and seeing Zara laid out on a table through the doctor's thoughts, hearing her faint breath as she wheezed in and out through a plastic mask.

One by one, the other people waiting left, and more came in, but the operation on Zara continued. The knives' scraping irritated me as well as making me nervous, and I started glaring at the far wall. Finally, after hours, when the sun had almost set, the attendant called out "Sir! She's awake now. Room 34." I quickly got up, almost, but not quite, running, towards the room where Zara was recovering. I slammed the door open, seeing her limp form on a hospital bed. She smiled weakly, saying "Well, you're a lot more jumpy. Guess what? I…remembered!"

_Zara's POV:_

I felt myself drifting in a sort of fog, probably induced by the drugs they gave me. I had managed to babble out something about me having anti-male blood, before I blacked well and truly out. I shuddered, drifting in a more purposeful way, chafing my upper arms. No way I was going to be impregnated when I was not even old enough to drink. I thought about why Alucard was treating me so nice, but broke off. I started plotting about the cat necklace, thankfully forgotten and home. I didn't feel that wave of dizziness, and blinked. _Of course, they can't risk doing any more damage to me while I'm under the knife, so I can remember freely, or more freely now!_ I looked around in desperation. I needed to remember as much as I could, so they couldn't wrench me back into subservient mode.

I was suddenly aware of a presence next to me, and a German sounding voice called out. "Oh wow, you're finally avake! It took you forever!" I turned, seeing a boy with cat ears standing next to me. _Who are you?_ He grinned, spinning around in a circle before answering. "My name's Schrödinger, and I'm evervhere und novhere. I vas part of your mind, back vhen you were still Zara Pazúry." I quickly grabbed his arm. _Tell me about who I was. Please, I need to know!_ He brushed me off, before answering "Of course, vhat, you think I vould abandon you? Half-breeds like us need to stay together. Also, I'm stuck in this space until you recognize me as me."

I blinked. _Half-breeds?_ He rolled his eyes. "You know, I should just _show_ you." He grabbed my arm and yanked, and I fell somehow, being dragged back to the very beginning of my memories. _I stumbled, feeling the wave of dizziness again. I looked around, seeing mommy sprawled against the wood daddy had been cutting, dead. Her eyes were gouged out, and she was covered in blood. I swallowed, hearing crunching sounds coming from slightly farther ahead. I edged out from the doorway, seeing a man-_thing_ standing over daddy, tearing at him with his claw-hands. I screamed, seeing the wolf, the werewolf, turn around slowly. My father managed to choke out "Zara, run! Save yourself!"_

_ The man-wolf turned, grabbing daddy by the throat and punching him in the face, only his fist went right through daddy's jaw. Daddy sank to the ground, making shrieking noises at me, like words, only unintelligible. He slowly stilled, then fell silent. I stared at this thing, this monster that had so dared lay a hand to my family. I charged at him, seeing him suddenly drop to the ground and writhe into a big wolf, glowing and snarling. I skidded to a stop, seeing my hands getting long claws, like momma's kitties. I heard the wolf roar, and jumped back, I charged at him again, not caring that I was going to die like momma and daddy. Maybe I even wanted it._

_ I tried to reach high, to hit his eyes, but even as I swiped I knew I would fall short and hit his nose or snout. He opened his mouth again, and I blindly raked my hand across the inside of his jaws, feeling slight resistance and then nothing as something fell to the ground with a plop. He howled, and I realized I had hurt him badly. I swiped him across the chest, seeing him stumble. He suddenly seemed to recover and swiped a heavy paw at me, slamming me into the wall of our cottage, and making me black out._

I blinked. Had that really been a memory? But another image was coming up fast, and I reluctantly embraced it. This pain I was feeling, it was nothing to being nameless. I could cope with pain. _Hand me another scalpel, will you? A voice, Doc's voice, scoured the inside of my head. I tried to think of what they were testing me for now, but what did I care? The bright lights of the operating table burned my eyes, and I shut them. I felt a slight sting as Doc inserted the knife, but I knew better than to struggle. Struggling made it worse. Struggling made it longer. He grinned, looking at the gleam of my ribcage with a tiny flashlight. "An utterly human complex so far, fraulien. None of the extras, just human bones, human organs, human everything." I managed to spit weakly "Go…get run over…by a bus…"_

_ He smirked, prodding the incision on my arm. I bit back a yelp of pain as he touched raw muscle and nerves. "Insults are never a sign of goodwill. You might want to learn some manners, after all, I'm the only thing keeping you from a painful existence as an outcast." I hissed at him. "Dream on, you pathetic Frankenstein impersonator. I've hacked up better excuses than that." He scowled, letting his knife trail lightly along my arm. The sharp edge was infinitely worse than a mere pressure from his finger and I yelped. "I could also bring in the Captain. I'm sure you two would like to catch up." I immediately froze, and let him continue cutting me up._

A flash of anger roared through me. How dare that man use me like an experiment! I rushed towards the next image, wanting to see what happened to them. _Doc came for me again, twice in one…night? Day? It was too soon. He dragged me over to his operating table, and I felt a flash of hope when I saw my brother on the next bench. "You two are going to say goodbye now." He said brightly, as if that distracted me from the fact he was going drag my brother who knew where. I grabbed his arm, not breaking eye contact with Doc. "No." he frowned. "No? The order was quite simple. Come." He grabbed my brother by the other arm, and we struggled for a second. I was the weaker one, after the blood loss last visit, I couldn't hold on as well. Doc never really had a reason to bleed me, I think he just liked it. I sank back down on the bench, trying to reach my brother, to stop this, but I couldn't move._

_ My eyes started to slip shut, and I forced them open, managing to drag myself a few feet towards the door, catching Doc's heel. He looked down in surprise, the sighed and stamped on my hand. I held on, not giving up on my last chance to save my brother. He jerked his hand and I felt soldiers grab my arms, trying to haul me away. I screamed insults, profanities, anything that came to mind as I struggled in their arms, seeing the look of hope on my brother's face. I managed to break free, grabbing him and shoving Doc away, pulling my brother close as he sobbed into my shoulder. I felt something hard slam into my skull, and I felt my arms begin to loosen their grip. I tried to hold on, but my brother was wrenched away yet again. I saw a boot out of the corner of my eye, and in a last act of defiance, twisted, sending my suddenly razor-shape nails into the person's leg._

_ I saw the werewolf captain's look of pain and anger, and then I blacked out. When I woke up later, I was back in my cell, hearing gunshots. I scrambled to the door, pressing my face against the bars, hoping against hope. A scream echoed down the corridor, and my heart sank. My brother's voice was screaming, crying, shouting for help, for comfort. For me. A single gunshot rang out, and I heard him stop. Later, when the Major himself came by, and explained that this was something that would happen if I did not obey him in future, he dumped my brother into the cell with me. I saw the wound on his shoulder, it was superficial and would heal quickly. The mental trauma would take far longer._

I clenched my fists, feeling angrier by the second. More memories, of escaping, of living on the edge, of constantly being hunted, all these flashed before my eyes. But gradually, between the terror and the pain and the anger, I saw flashes of hope. Techno, much younger, helping me to my feet after an explosion in California. Maniac, resolutely cheering me on from a rock face in the Peru Mountains. Auger, showing me a humorous passage from an obscure author as we delved through an ancient FBI headquarters in Washington. Adit, giving me a sparkly rock he had found digging.

And then… I blinked as a fresh surge of memories caught me. Hellsing. Pip, drinking a tray full of shot glasses. Seras, looking confused as I explained the benefits of being a blood-drinker. The Wild Geese, laughing on the floor, as a white mist drifted around the room. Integra, looking annoyed when I explained about Techno's latest prank. Roger, showing me how to use a shortcut that got me from one end of the manor to the other in a few minutes. A snowball fight, and the havoc caused. The Christmas after.

Then I realized all my memories of Alucard were missing. _Why aren't you showing me the ones with him in it?_ Schrö was suddenly beside me, looking disgusted. "I vas saving those for last. I always hated that part of your life." A memory engulfed me, and I realized Schrö was gone, completely. Then, as I picked out details, I remembered why. _Alucard, trying to turn me after a deadly fall. Alucard, holding me gently as I looked around a crowded dining room. Alucard, waking up next to me, as I realized he had let me use his coat as a blanket. Alucard, laughing when I was being annoyed. Alucard…_ the last one was the dimmest, but the one most important of all. _Alucard, kissing me gently, looking at me with love and concern. Alucard, screaming out my name as I died, voicing the pain and anguish that I thought was impossible to describe._

I woke up, feeling drowsy. It was funny, I mused. _One second I'm dreaming about my past, and then wham! I'm wide awake._ I heard footsteps, then the door slammed open, and I saw Alucard standing there, looking worried. I smiled at him weakly. "Well, you're a lot more jumpy. Guess what? I…remembered!" I said, seeing his face take on a look of complete bewilderment. "Everything?" he said, looking wooden. I frowned at him. "Yes, everything. The Major, Millennium, Hellsing, Dennis, _everything_." I said, feeling content for the first time in ages. "What about Soarece?" he asked, looking relieved. I frowned again. "Who?"

_**One step forward, two steps back. Oh well, at least she remembered her past life! I need to find some way to get Past-Zara and Pisica-Zara to meet. Now that I write that out loud, that may not be such a bad idea! It was a stretch to put Soarece in water, I know. She was just so determined to have fun, she ignored it. And when she was saving Zara/Pisica, she was too worried to care. Schrö's back! Yay! Zara was attacked by a Mako shark, one of the fastest kinds of shark there is. I think it is actually **__the__** fastest, which accounts for it being there and gone before Mark knew it was biting him. Makos are sneaky little buggers, there and gone in a flash. Also, ecologist warning, they're endangered, because sports fishermen think they're a really good kind of game fish. I quote from Wiki: The Shortfin Mako is the fastest species of shark. Its speed has been recorded at 50 kilometers per hour (31 mph) with bursts of up to 74 kilometers per hour (46 mph)**____**they can leap approximate 9 meters (30 ft) high or higher in the air. Some scientists suggest that the shortfin Mako can swim up to 100 kilometers per hour (62 mph), though scientists are still in debate over exactly how fast the shortfin Mako shark can swim. This high-leaping fish is a highly sought-after game fish worldwide. There are cases when an angry Mako jumped into a boat after having been hooked. So yeah, nasty fish. But don't kill the nice shark, pretty please? R, R, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	11. Chapter 11

_**Okay, story blending! Don't worry, I'll find a way to post an image sometime! I have to, because the chibi image of Zara's kid is just too cute not to show you guys. If anyone knows how to post a picture on a story, please tell me. Otherwise I'm just gonna make it the story's cover image. Sorry about the delay, I had to pick my sister up yesterday from school.**_

_Zara's POV:_

Well, that certainly wasn't the right thing to say. I looked down at my heavily bandaged chest, and frowned. I remembered I was here because a shark bit me, and I went to the beach with Techno and the others, and that I had been gone from Hellsing for roughly three years, but names, like… Soarece, wasn't it? I couldn't remember that name. But I did remember someone, a vampire, who had taken me under her wing. Maybe that was her. I looked at Alucard, who was pressing the button that would call the nurse over. "Why are you doing that? I'm fine."

"I'm going to take you back home. You just needed some blood; your new regeneration power took care of the rest. Needless to say, a patient can't just vanish into thin air." I sighed, letting my head fall back down onto the pillow. "You're going to hypnotize them aren't you?" He grinned at me, not saying anything. That was Alucard-speak for "Yes, of course I am, and I'm going to enjoy it". I managed to sit up completely, wanting to see this. The nurse came in, and Alucard got her attention. He stared at her eyes for about a minute, then she tottered off on some errand.

He phased out, and about five minutes later came back in, looking extremely pleased with himself. "As far as this hospital is concerned, you were never here." He said, picking me up. He carried me out the door, and I saw the receptionist staring at the far wall, looking shell-shocked. "What about the medical records of my visit and surgery?" I asked, waving at her as I passed by. She waved back mechanically, and Alucard said cheerfully "Sadly, they seemed to have disappeared. As did several ounces of the acid from one of the store rooms." I glared at him. "You better not have left a mess." He scowled, ducking his head a little as he went through the front door.

"No, not really. Just a few scorch marks, and some got on my sleeve, which hurt a bit." I rolled my eyes, wincing as he whistled for a taxi. He got in, placing me on the other seat, before telling the driver where to go and paying him. He settled back, pulling me close to him and rubbing my back. "I missed you." He said softly, and I felt rather amused. "I was only gone three years. You can't have missed me that much. You're like 500 plus years old, three years is nothing." He growled, pulling me closer to him. "That's different." He said into my neck, nuzzling me gently. I blushed slightly. "How so?"

"I only met you a few years ago. Before that doesn't count." He muttered, sounding peeved. I turned over, forcing him to stop stroking my back. Pleasing as the sensation was, I didn't know how much longer I could keep from humming. He growled again, tugging his interlocked hands against my stomach in protest. He suddenly shifted position, and I heard a murmur of pleasure as his fingers threaded their way through my hair. I looked up at the driver, wondering how he was taking all this. Thankfully, he was occupied with the backstreets and cross-cutting cars, and was not paying attention to us at all. Since I was not feeling like humming, even though Alucard shifting his fingers through my hair felt really, really good, I watched traffic fly by, automatically memorizing which ones could hold potential enemies.

I felt a sudden pain in my skull and yelped, putting my hand to my forehead. Alucard asked me what was wrong, but I couldn't answer because of the pain. It finally stopped, and I took a deep shuddering breath. "Sorry." I moaned, still clutching my head. "Really bad migraine or something. It's gone now." He gently reached up, pushing my hands aside and resting his own on my forehead. I felt that slight itching sensation that came with being mind-searched, and waited for his verdict. "You'll be fine. You never had these before, but a lot has changed." He removed his hand.

We pulled up to the Hellsing driveway, which was pretty long, and walked the rest of the way there. Overwhelming silence pounded on our ears, and it was pretty dang awkward as well. I mean, what do you say to a guy who kissed you mere hours before you died a fiery death, then waited for three years for you to come back, then immediately was there for you when you came back, and you can't get any of his DNA inside you because you might get pregnant? Small talk kinda dies down in that atmosphere. You also really feel insecure when he starts being affectionate towards you.

We stopped in front of the door, me because I was nervous, Alucard because I had stopped first. He gently put an arm around my shoulders, avoiding the spot where the shark had bit me. "Anything change when I was gone?" I asked in a small voice. He smirked. "Techno's in charge and Integra now only smokes those cigars you got her. Nothing else really." I straightened immediately"Techno's been in charge? Why didn't you say so before!" I slammed the door open, running for the H.D. headquarters, hoping desperately it wasn't up in flames or some other trick.

I heard him chuckle behind me, but didn't really care. I slammed the door open, seeing Techno and the others jump to their feet. "YOU!" I yelled, pointing at his chest. Everyone looked at me in concern. "FALL-IN!" I barked, and they were too cowed to do anything but obey. I marched down the line, glaring at everyone. "Troops, there has been a sad decline in discipline. Not only have you put Techno in charge, he has actually remained in charge. I express disappointment. I express my humble and extreme disappointment in your actions." Adit spoke up. "Well, you promoted him into second in command so-"

I swung around, eyes blazing "DO NOT TRY TALKING LOGIC TO ME WHEN I AM RANTING! Thank you, where was I? Ah yes, disappointment. I will have to reprimand all of you most harshly for your actions. Not only will you all go back to the positions you had under me, you will have to forfeit all rights of argument in my decisions for the immediate future. That means no backtalk, no sly suggestions, AND NO SPACING OUT WHEN I AM SPEAKING TO YOU!" I yelled the last bit at Maniac, whose eyes had begun to glaze over. She jumped and executed a razor-sharp salute. "SIR YES SIR!" she yelped, sweating slightly under my direct gaze. "Right, now, go do two hours of weapons practice, capture-the-flag style, with the Wild Geese. On pain of my extreme _disappointment_."

They all piled out the door, excepting Maniac, Auger, and Techno. We all hugged, me explaining a bit about getting my memory back. They shuffled out, and I was alone in the H.D. common room. For the second. Alucard melted out of the air next to me, hugging me tightly to his chest "Masterful people herding. You can be quite intimidating when you want to be." He whispered in my ear. I tried sliding out of his grip, to no avail. "Yeah, it's a gift. You should see me when I'm _really_ mad." He chuckled, and I blushed, which I seemed to be doing a lot lately, especially in his presence.

A vampire I vaguely recognized burst through the door. "P-Zara! Guess what? Techno asked me out! Oh, umm, am I interrupting anything?" I blushed harder, knowing what this would look like to her. "No." I said, giving Alucard my most fierce glare. He smirked, nipping my ear before vanishing. I rubbed it, feeling no open wound at all, but best to be safe. _He's still a jerk._ "Umm, I hate to say this, but apparently my old memories crowded out some details of my new ones, you're Soarece, right?" She nodded carefully. "You know what I did with you for a couple years?" she asked, looking scared. I shook my head rapidly, trying to reassure her. "Oh yeah, I just forgot your name and other details like that. Me getting hit by a thunderbolt did happen, right?"

She giggled. "Oh yes, that _totally_ happened." I sighed. "Don't tell Techno. So he asked you out?" She blushed slightly, a faint pink, which was the vampire equivalent of bright red. "Yeah." I proceeded with caution, as some of my friends in the H.D. could be quite snippy about these issues. "You like him, dislike him, what? Give me the details." She looked around, and I copied her movement. "Not here. Let's go back to your room." She whispered, and I nodded. We walked casually back, and I felt a pang of sadness when I saw my old room, which was _not_ full of cats. "So" I said, sitting down on my bed. "Spill it."

She sat down and took a deep breath. "So, I was walking in a hallway, and I saw Techno, and he had this really guilty look, so I stopped because you never know what would make him look guilty, and I asked him why he was looking like that. He blushed and handed me this piece of paper, before he ran away." She gave me the tiny scrap of paper, and my eyebrows rose. _"So, I knew I didn't have the guts to give this to you by talking, so I wrote it out. I probably drew out fifty attempts at this, and threw them all away. Even now, I'm delaying what I want to ask. So here goes. Soarece, can you come with me to the movies Friday? I swear on my soul this isn't a prank. I really like you and want to know more about you. I'm paying. –Techno"_

I lay down, thinking it through. "You should go. I know that it may seem like something he would do for a prank, but Techno knows that a woman's feelings are out-of-bounds when it comes to pranking. He asked me if you were seeing anyone at the beach. Do you like him?" She shuffled her feet, avoiding my gaze. "I don't know, he seems nice, but what if I don't like him at all?" I decided it was time for me to put in my honest opinion. "Even if you don't the very least you get out of it is a free meal and a movie ticket. If you do, go on from there." She nodded decidedly. "Right. I will." I looked at my clock. "What day is it?"

She shifted nervously in her seat. "Thursday." I choked, scrambling upwards. "You better go tell him you said yes! And, knowing you, to get all dolled up. Remember, this is just a movie date. Don't overdress." She snickered. "Don't forget who you're talking to. I know fashion better than you know cats. Well, almost. You know a lot about cats." I snorted. "Thank you for that ringing endorsement." She beamed. "Don't mention it. Wow, I have a lot to do." She started out the door, muttering to herself. "Maybe I should be casual, but refined, I mean, I want to make a good impression, maybe if I do something with my hair… yeah, that could work, but what…" I rolled my eyes.

"One would think she was actually serious about this." I commented loudly to the room. Alucard stuck his head out of the wall next to my bed. "Indeed. How did you know I was here?" I smirked. "I didn't. It was an educated guess." He scowled, sitting on the bed next to me. He opened his mouth, but I cut him off. "I need your help with something." He closed it, looking amused. "What?" I tugged at my hair in thought. "Techno and Soarece are going out on a date tomorrow, and I want to see what happens. You could help a lot." He grinned. "Spying on your friend? Not very honorable." I shoved him. "No, I'm watching. She could tell me about it after, but I really want to see what happens. Help me?"

He pondered my question, and then he smirked. "Only if you help me with something." I looked at him warily. "What?" He trailed a finger along my wrist. "I haven't had a taste of your blood. Soarece says its flavor has changed, and I want to find out for myself." I sighed, looking around for a sharp object, and a bowl. I found them both and sat back down on the bed, feeling Alucard's confusion. "You do realize that I could just bite you?" he said, watching me slit my wrist. "No, you couldn't. Soarece tried once, and she was knocked backward. Go on, do it."

He shrugged, bending towards my neck, and I heard a curse as he was shoved back by some invisible shield. "See. No biting from you or any other vampire." He scowled at me, rubbing his mouth in annoyance. "That stung." I smirked, handing him the bowl of blood. He took a sip and then lurched forward, almost spilling it. I blinked, feeling surprised. "Does it taste bad?" He was gasping, like a human who had eaten hot peppers. "No. Not at all." He said, taking a deep breath. "The…power in it shocked me for a moment. If Soarece was able to drink this every week, I can see how she advanced so far." I looked at the bowl of my blood, seeing normal blood, as far as I was concerned.

He caught the look. "It's like a battery. For a vampire, drinking your blood is like a human drinking coffee, or having a direct shot of adrenaline. It gives me an incredible boost of power. No wonder you have some kind of protective field around yourself." I shrugged. "If you say so. Help me now?" He slurped the rest of my blood quickly, then nodded. "What do you have in mind?" I sat for a moment, thinking. "Well, you're the grand master vampire. Can you shapeshift?" He grinned. "Yes. Will a dog suit your purposes?" I nodded grudgingly. "Yeah, I guess. So, now here's what I want to do…"

_**It's not stalking, she just wants to see things firsthand. Yes, she has like super-blood now. Movie date, you know all the awkwardness that spawns from such and atmosphere. *laughs psychotically* Again, sorry about the delay yesterday, but this wasn't long enough to post online. It must have at least a 1,600 word count for me to even consider it. I have standards. It's snowing **__again__**. May 1, and it's snowing, but it's Minnesota. Strange weather we're having… *shrugs* Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	12. Chapter 12

_**I will not be specifying a movie, but who cares what they were watching? The focus won't be on the screen anyway. And it may be just a little bit like stalking, but who hasn't done this when their younger sibling is on a date? We all know we have. (I'm speaking rhetorically, because my sister is only eight years old, but I'll be there when she does, you can bet on that) The snow melted, thank god. I tell you, it's tolerable in early spring, but **__MAY__**? You are crossing the line Mother Nature. I looked up (and I swear I'm not making this up) the poem in my mom's copy of **__Obscure Poetry by even more Obscure People__**. Sad, isn't it?**_

_Soarece's POV:_

I was really unsure of myself as we walked to the movies. Techno seemed content to babble about nothing, and I answered, but inside I was writhing in agony. _Did I overdress? I think I did, how embarrassing, does he care? Does he think I'm some kind of diva? Did I make him think _he_ underdressed? Has he changed, and this is really some big prank?_ I yelped, aware he asked me something. "What!?" he raised his eyebrows. "See that one guy over there?" he said, pointing to a guy outside a café, looking nervously at a girl sitting opposite him. "Watch this." He flicked something at them, and it landed on the girl's hand. She looked down, and shrieked, quickly shaking her hand to get it off.

The man tried calming her down, and she clung to his arm, obviously trying to calm herself. I looked at him, outraged, but he held up his hand. "Give it a moment…" I looked back, seeing the man calm her down, then they both laughed. A few moments later they were talking animatedly, leaning close to each other. Techno turned to me. "Another first date awkward party broken up by yours truly." He said, giving me a thumbs up. I stared at him, agog. "How did you do that? They were both being so stiff and then you-, and then they-, HOW?" he cracked his knuckles, grinning.

"Simple psychology. When on a first date, the man's first instinct is to impress the woman. Women, confronted with something with the appearance of a bug on their hand, will try to get it off. Thus, the hand movement, usually accompanied by a shriek, the male wishes to help. The female is embarrassed. She tries to play it off, the male pounces on the opportunity to start a conversation, and soon they are laughing at each other's jokes. The ice is broken." I raised my eyebrows. "And are you going to use any of that psychology on me?" He pretended to look horrified, and put a hand on his chest. "Madam, I am hurt. Not only would it be the lowest betrayal to do that to one's own date, but my tricks usually require being an observer."

I giggled. "Are you some kind of poet?" He glanced around carefully. "Do you swear never, _ever_ tell this to anyone, ever?" I nodded carefully. He bent his head close to mine and whispered. "Secretly, I read a lot of Old English poems, like Shakespeare and stuff. Don't tell anyone, please." I grinned at him. "I promise. Do you make up poems, or just read them?" He blushed bright red, something I was glad I didn't do anymore. "Sometimes I make up stuff." He mumbled, avoiding eye contact. I smiled. "Can I hear one?" He blushed deeper, then rummaged around in his pocket. "Here." He muttered, shoving a scrap of paper at me. I looked at it, wondering if he was any good.

" _A fire burns on our Christmas tree, children run around in glee. The walls have been hung with men, not stockings, and the police are at the door knocking. The air is reeking if beer and wine, and presents are doused with it, none of them mine. Our friends are fighting like cats and dogs, grunting all the while like stricken hogs. The city has warrants for our arrest, and moonshined liquor is proved the best. And to think, the cause of the police, the drunken men, the fighting friends, the spilled drink, the fiery tree, all of it, every bit, was caused by me." _I looked back up at him. "Is this a confession?" he grinned, holding his hand out for it.

"Ha ha, very funny. No, it's just a little scribble I was working on." I handed it back to him. "I'm no poet but it sounds cool enough to me." He blushed slightly. "Thanks. Oh, hey, we're here." I looked up, seeing the theater loom above us. "Oh. Great." I said, feeling a bit disappointed. He patted my shoulder slightly, looking cheerful. "Don't worry, we have the whole day to talk! Did I ever tell you about the time I was driving in Romania and…" we walked in, getting our food and tickets, and I felt just a little bit better.

_Zara's POV:_

I looked at Alucard, who was pacing back and forth in dog form. "Got fleas?" I teased, seeing his impatience. He sighed heavily, or the dog equivalent. _Your blood is more potent than I thought. I feel like I have… what's the term? I think you humans call it a sugar rush. I need to _do_ something, not all this waiting. It's making me antsy_. Irolled my eyes. "Calm down, take a deep breath, and think of mass-murdering a whole crowd of vampires and the Vatican." He sighed, dropping his head down in bliss. _Much better._ _How am I killing them?_ I looked at Techno and Soarece, who seemed to be enjoying themselves nicely. "I don't know. Stabbing them through the heart with your hand, shooting their legs out from under them and then draining them, tearing them apart with your familiars, you figure it out."

He grinned toothily up at me, wagging his tail. _You tell it better. Go on, I want to hear a better description._ I sighed, trying to think of something as I watched Soarece and Techno for interesting developments. "Maxwell's running scared like a girl, Heinkel is emptying all his clips into you without effect, and Yumiko is guarding his back before you kill them both with Rip Van Winkle. Then Anderson comes in and you shoot his legs out, but he crawls towards you, sticking his bayonets into the ground in his desperation. You bite his head off and blow him up with the Jackal, then you go after Maxwell. You somehow manage to turn him into a vampire and dump him in the middle of the Iscariot's base when he's in a blood craze."

He barked happily, laying his head in my lap. _I like that story. What do I do with Maxwell after that?_ I rubbed the back of my neck. "Umm, I don't know. Leave Iscariot to finish him off I guess. Or if they don't wait a couple hundred years and then kill him." He wagged his tail. _Pet me, someone's wondering about us._ I quickly scratched his head, hearing his rumble of pleasure and felling his tail beat against my legs. _They're turning, almost out of range…ok, you can stop whenever you want._ I immediately stopped, and he gave me a hurt look. _Why don't you like petting me?_

I glared at him. "I hate dogs, remember?" He gave me the full power of the puppy dog eyes, and I stared back at him, unfazed. "You do realize that extends to puppies too, so I would be happy a puppy is sad. That won't work on me." He growled, pushing his nose into the crook of my arm. _Pet me already. Pretend I'm a cat or something._ I raised my eyebrows. "You do realize how silly that sounds? The great Alucard, No-Life King, begging me to pet him. You sound ridiculous." He glared up at me, multiple eyes flashing into view all over him. I snickered, gently stroking his head, and he immediately arched his back, rubbing against my chair. His eyes all disappeared, and he rumbled happily, which was the closest dogs come to purring, I guess.

I abruptly stopped, getting up and following the pair as they moved into the movie theater. He scampered after me, claws clicking on the pavement. _That felt good. You should do it more._ I rolled my eyes. "How much time do you spend in this form? I've never seen a big black dog around before." He appeared to be shocked by this, and suddenly transformed. He pinned me to a wall, gently grabbing my hand and running it through his hair. "It feels just as good this way, you know." He grinned at me, then shifted back into a dog. I rummaged around for a second, then hit him on the nose with a rolled-up newspaper. "Bad vampire. Very bad vampire." He yelped, rubbing his nose with a paw. _That hurts oddly out of proportion to its size. Is it made of silver or something?_

I rolled my eyes. "It's a _newspaper_. No silver, but that's been a traditional form of punishment for dogs for hundreds of years. You're lucky we evolved out of using a boot." He growled, rolling his eyes at me in annoyance. _Humans. Aren't we following your friend and Techno?_ I nodded, stepping out by the theater. "Soarece is a vampire, remember, and she'll probably be able to hear us. We'll need to be very quiet and stay in the back of the theater when we get in." he trotted behind me, staying quiet. _Don't teach a vampire to suck blood. I know how to be sneaky._

I asked the lady inside for a ticket, and she handed it over, staring at Alucard curiously. He wagged his tail, trying to be as charming as doggily possible. He slid by, barely, and we got into the movie theater. True to my word, we went to the very back, and I kept as quiet as I could, knowing Soarece could smell me very easily if I wasn't careful. Once we got there, I looked for Techno and Soarece, who were at the very front, which made it that much easier to pick them out. My thoughts were interrupted by a long arm snaking around my waist and pulling me next to Alucard. I glared at him.

He looked like he was watching the movie screen, or looking at Techno and Soarece, but he was grinning. "Get off." I whispered, not daring to be louder. He did not bother with speaking and his voice echoed in my mind. _I'm still fidgety. I need something to hold on to, and you are right next to me._ I snorted. _Grab onto the chair, or something like that. You are being distracting, and I need to focus on them._ I didn't even need to see his face to tell if he was smirking or not. His free hand began stroking my hair._ I distract you?_ I sighed, trying to wiggle out of his grip. _Well, let's see. You are holding me like a teddy bear, petting me, and generally being annoying. That's a wee bit distracting for anyone._

He suddenly leaned forward, then chuckled. _Techno just did the yawn-stretch move._ I leaned forward with him, and saw Techno's hand draped over Soarece's seat, almost but not quite touching her shoulders. She looked at him piercingly, then shrugged and yanked his arm down and telling him something, before watching the movie with renewed interest. _What'd she say?_ I asked Alucard, since his hearing was much better than mine. _She said that that was the lamest move in the book, and if he wanted to put his arm around her he should just do it, instead of dancing around. Then they both blushed._ I rubbed my hands together like some evil genius in a movie.

_Excellent. What do you think their chances are?_ He shrugged, peering down at them impassively. _It might work. It might not. I personally find the whole affair boring. I like our date much better._ If it wouldn't have given us away, I would have shrieked in indignation. _LISTEN YOU, THIS IS IN NO WAY A DATE! AND IF YOU SO MUCH AS SUGGEST THAT AGAIN I WILL STAB YOU WITH BLESSED SILVER! _He smirked, apparently unfazed by my threat. _Then why haven't you done so already? I have given you multiple good reasons for it. You like me too much to stab me._ Persons of excellent hearing, who were not occupied by their date, might have heard the muffled shriek accompanied with a slight drip of blood that followed that remark, but it otherwise escaped notice.

_That hurt. Did you have to hit me there?_ Alucard prodded the gaping wound in his shoulder and winced. I sat in my seat, scowling. _I could have done a heck of a lot more to you. I suggest you not make wise cracks in future, especially concerning my relationship with you._ He sighed, and then abruptly pulled me into his lap. _But I like to, you get so cute when you're in a murderous rage._ I wiggled, trying to hit his shoulder wound, which had already healed over. _Cheater._ He grinned, not caring at all. I froze, seeing Soarece doing something below us. My sudden movement caught Alucard's interest as well, and he leaned forward.

She was hugging Techno, who was patting her back, looking amused. I raised my eyebrows. _Do you think they like each other?_ He tapped the arm of the chair thoughtfully. _They are both laughing inside, like it was a joke, but they seem to be warming up to one another._ I tugged on his sleeve. "C'mon then, let's go. I've seen all I need to see." He quickly grabbed my arm and phased through the wall as Soarece whipped around to glare at the back.

_Soarece's POV:_

I turned, thinking I heard Zara's voice. I shook my head rapidly. _Just hearing things, that's all._ Techno, whose arm was still around my shoulder, commented casually. "You know, hearing voices is one of the ten signs of raving insanity." I giggled. "What are the other ten signs?" He appeared to be in deep though for a moment, then answered "One, talking to yourself. Two, seeing things that aren't there. Three, hearing things that aren't there. Four, feeling things that aren't there. Five, having a really weird voice. Six, saying random things like they make perfect sense. Seven, going on a date with me. Eight, letting Alucard stay in your house. Nine, challenging Captain Pip to a drinking contest. Ten, umm, you know, I completely forgot what ten was. It's not too bad, you have only four of the signs. Zara has seven."

I felt interested. "What four do I have, and what one does she have?" He counted them off on his fingers. "You're showing 1, 3, 6, and 7. Zara is and was showing 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, and 9." I snorted. "She actually challenged him to a drinking contest?" he nodded. "Yeah, and get this, she beat him by two shot glasses. Sad, isn't it? She kinda cheated, but who cares?" We continued conversations like this until we left the theater, and all the way home as well. "This was fun." He said as we walked up the driveway. "We should do it again." I nodded. "Yeah, it was. I guess we could, sometime."

We stopped by the side entrance, holding hands, however cheesy that may sound. It didn't stop there. A snicker sounded directly above us, and we both looked up to see Alucard and Seras hanging on the roof. Alucard surveyed us calmly as Seras laughed into her hand. "I may not be an expert in human customs, but isn't there one involving that plant?" he said, pointing to something hanging from the door way, also directly above us. We looked up and froze.

I don't know how he managed to find mistletoe this far away from Christmas, but there it was, hanging above our heads. We both turned bright red. "I think they're supposed to kiss." Seras said, being much to helpful, for once. "Not Christmas." I managed to say through clenched teeth. Techno nodded enthusiastically. Alucard grinned down at us. "The tradition says nothing about it being Christmas, doesn't it?" we both blushed, and to my horror I heard footsteps coming our way. Alucard and Seras could hear them too. "You might want to hurry." He teased us in a singsong voice.

_**Out-awkward that, if you will. Vote on whether or not they kiss, I don't care one way or the other. If it's a yes, I will do my best to write in a good scene, but again, I don't care either way. Techno is secretly a poet, who knew? This was blatantly a filler chapter, but all my little plots are coming together. You just wait… Review, Request(I haven't got any more filler ideas), Rcomment(never a problem with you people, it's the middle one you find difficult), Auf Wedersein!**_


	13. Chapter 13

_**As of right now, nobody has said yea or nay about the mistletoe thing. If you wanted it to turn out differently, you should have said something sooner. So right now, I have improvised a sort of compromise between yea and nay. And honestly, I was planning to make them do something like this anyway, even if someone had chipped in. So, not to be blunt or cruel, if you don't like it, SUCK IT UP AND DEAL! Thank you. Today was not a happy mood day for me. I don't know why. Sorry if I snapped electronically at you. I'm just **__grumpy.__** If this was an anime I'd have had a little tiny thundercloud trailing behind me all day. I shall attempt to release it through writing, so if anyone, besides the obvious, is out of character you can be upset, its okay. **_

_Techno's POV:_

I stared in horror at Soarece, who appeared to be listening to something. "There are people coming." She whispered, looking terrified. I felt a moment of panic. She suddenly straightened her shoulders, and I blushed. I would never live it down if I kissed her, I knew that. I squeezed my eyes shut, not wanting to see what would happen next. I felt something soft brush my cheek and my eyes snapped opened. Soarece had just kissed my cheek, and had backed off a little, smirking at both me and Alucard. He looked extremely disappointed. "You know, they never specified how you're supposed to kiss either master." Seras said, watching with urban amusement.

He scowled, looking down at the both of us, and I was aware I was blushing uncontrollably. Soarece was a faint pink, which probably meant the same thing for vampires. "We never speak of this again." I said, my voice cracking a little. Soarece nodded enthusiastically, and Alucard sighed. "Spoilsports. Well, that was so disappointing that I really don't see the point of spreading rumors." He phased away, still looking sad. Seras dropped down from the roof. "I promise not to tell." She whispered, before phasing off as well. Now we were alone, and I was blushing even more.

"Umm…" I said, not really knowing what to do now. She snickered. "I just wanted to throw them off the track. This is what I really wanted to do." She threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly, in fact so tightly I saw stars. "Ach…ing…Soarece!" I managed to choke out, flailing a little bit. She loosened her grip slightly, and I could breathe normally. "Thanks, I had a great time." I cautiously patted her back. "Yeah, me too. See you tomorrow?" she giggled. "Of course silly, we live in the same house!" She suddenly tensed. "What?" I asked, letting go. She shrugged, looking puzzled. "I could have sworn I just heard someone yelling "YES" but I guess that was just me."

_Zara's POV:_

I clapped a hand over my mouth, but I was still screaming on the inside. Alucard was next to me, smirking. "I wouldn't have put it past her to try something, but this was far sneakier. Did you have to be so loud?" I shrugged sheepishly. "It was a yes moment. Haven't you ever seen someone yelling "YES!" when they have successfully completed a goal? That's a yes moment, and I just had one. So there." I stuck my tongue out at him. He rolled his eyes, looking at the clock on my bedtable. "You should be asleep." I put the binoculars down resentfully. "No." He grinned, and that was all the warning I got before I was pinned down on my mattress, him leaning casually on my arms. "_Yes_."

I struggled. "Get off me!" He smirked. "No." I sighed, going limp. "This is payback for when I called you Uncle Roger that one time, isn't it?" His grin widened. "Yes, and for when you stopped petting me, and for when you stabbed me with silver, and for when you got yourself attacked by a shark." I glared at him. "Get off me now, or I'll mind-call Soarece over here." He sighed, letting me sit up. I rubbed my wrists, even though he hadn't pressed down that hard. "Now go away and let me sleep in peace." He sighed again and phased out of the room. I changed into my pajamas and climbed into bed, tossing around a bit before settling down. I still hadn't gotten used to sleeping in a bed with no cats.

I couldn't just walk into a store and buy cats like everyone else, because how would you feel if one of your schoolmates came by your house and decided "Hey, I want you to be my friend," and made you do everything with them afterwards? Yeah, that's how buying a cat at a pet store would feel for me. I felt the mattress sink down slightly with a creak, and lunged out of bed, but I wasn't fast enough. Alucard wrapped his legs around mine, pinning my arms to my torso with one arm, completely immobilizing me. His other arm slid around my chest, pulling me close to him. "Much better." He said in my ear, and I sighed. "Go away and let me sleep already! What is wrong with you?" I couldn't see his face, but I knew he grinned.

"You could never sleep by yourself for love or money. I am assisting you." I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, so why can I not move? Surely assisting me can be limited to sitting on the side of the bed or something? You don't need to pull a full body hold on me." There was a pause while he considered this. "No, but I enjoy it immensely. It's so nice to have something warm to snuggle up to." For a moment, I was briefly consumed by rage, but I came to within a few seconds. Alucard had made the most of those seconds, and I was now lying across his chest, my arms still pinned to my side. He also still had my legs immobilized, so the only thing I could do was wiggle. "_Get off of me!_" I spat, feeling extremely angry.

He grinned, pulling my face down to his with his free hand and whispering "Actually, _you_ are the one on top of _me_. And if I'm not mistaken…" his lips trailed along my collarbone and I shivered involuntarily. "…you're enjoying it." I blushed, burying my face in his chest. I couldn't say anything without my voice betraying me, so I stayed like that for a little bit. I heard him chuckle and he started stroking my back gently. I waited until I could talk without squeaking and said hoarsely. "Please get off me." He abruptly stopped petting my back, and I lifted up my face, seeing his shock. "What's wrong?" he asked in concern. I avoided his gaze. "Nothing."

He sighed, looking resigned. "Zara, you've _never_ asked politely for me to stop whatever I've been doing. What's wrong?" I swallowed nervously. "You know how I died?" he growled, and then nodded stiffly. "Yes. You were…incinerated by the explosion." I nodded. "And do you know how I got back?" He shook his head silently. "I was resurrected somehow, by my clan's spirits. They told me so that one day the doctor looked at me." He blinked, but didn't say anything. "They told me they enhanced me, and that they didn't like what I was doing with my new life. They were being very _pushy_ about it." He cocked his head, looking confused. "What about your memories?"

I swallowed hard. "They wiped them. They said they did it because I had been getting close to the wrong…person, and they didn't like it. Whenever I saw something that might help me remember, they re-brainwashed me." I heard him snarl viciously and he pulled me even closer, like he wanted to protect me. "Why did they resurrect you in the first place then?" he growled. I blushed bright red. "They… they wanted me to produce babies!" I said all in one breathe before burying my face in his chest again. He made an incredulous sound and I winced.

I felt his grip on my arms tighten. "Anything else?" he muttered through clenched teeth. I shook my head, still not looking at him. "No. They said they made it really hard to kill me, but I'm taking everything they say with a pinch of salt." I could almost hear the wheels turning in his head. "You… oh. That's it. That's why you're always so jumpy around me nowadays, isn't it?" I nodded miserably. "I know you wouldn't mean it, but one smidgen of DNA in the wrong place and I'm pregnant, my reproductively's so strong." I said, starting to sob. He gently rocked me, murmuring softly "Shhhh, it won't happen. Think about other things. I'm here for you, and so are your friends. Shhhh, everything will be alright."

I sniffed, throwing my arms around his neck and clinging to him desperately as he rocked me. He whispered to me for about ten minutes before I calmed down. I felt extremely tired, and I felt him turn over so I was laying on the mattress rather than him, although he still kept his arms around me. I felt myself begin to drift away, still with Alucard lying next to me, solidly comforting even in my sleep. Little light flickers began to pop up in my field of vision, and I gulped. The only things that those reminded me of were…

_"YOU STUPID, FOOLISH, IGNORANT GIRL!" _ I felt something whip across my back and yelped. _Stop it!_ First and the other light orbs swirled around me, like a nightmare version of floating leaves. _"Not even back for a year, and already bedding the vampire!"_ One of the nastier light-orbs stuck me again, even though it was three meters away at the very least. I screamed at them in defiance. _I AM NOT "BEDDING" HIM! HE'S SLEEPING IN MY BED, TRYING TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER BECAUSE OF WHAT __**YOU**__'VE DONE TO ME! LEAVE ME ALONE! _They didn't, swirling around me faster and faster. First, who seemed least hostile, tried reasoning with me.

_"He is not the right mate for you. You should not be sleeping with him. If he impregnated you, it would be a disaster." _ I was incoherent with rage. _HOW DARE YOU SAY HE'S NOT THE RIGHT ONE FOR ME? WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE? And if I was impregnated by someone else, why wouldn't that be just as must of a problem, because I don't want to be saddled with a bastard! _ First was breathing heavily, or it sounded like it. _"Your children will be a delicate mix, almost completely balanced between cat and human. Adding vampire genes to it is just asking for trouble. Most will be born dead anyway, and you will have several instead of just the one baby. That's if you _don't_ have half-vampire children."_

I literally felt like I was on fire with rage. I tried to keep my voice calm, with a little success. _You say I will have at least two babies for every pregnancy, and several of them will be born dead, or with genetic defects. Maybe I should go get impregnated by a vampire, just to shove failure in your- _(Thisbit is cut off, because I don't even want to repeat what I said in my head, much less out loud.)_ –slime ridden, firefly flickering pus holes! Yeah, that's what I said! I said all insults known to man or beast in one single beautiful sentence, and I'm glad I did!_

Before I could go on the other spheres wrapped around me in a blaze of light, and I felt a shredding, grinding source of pain coming from all points of my body. _STOP IT! ALUCARD! _ The pain suddenly receded, and the spheres backed away in shock. _"You called out to him…" _ They seemed almost awed. First drew himself up, looking solemn. _"Your infatuation blinds you. He sees you as a meal, nothing more."_ I wanted to punch him. _You have no idea what you are talking about. _ He drifted closer, and I saw a dim image, which turned out to be myself, sleeping. _"He hungers for your blood." _ Alucard bent over my prone figure, and I saw his eyes glowing red. He lunged for my throat, but was repelled by the force field we had seen earlier.

_"It is an aching need that drives out his reason. He craves it beyond all things." _ I saw Alucard snap for my throat again, and he managed to get closer this time before being bounced back. _You're lying. _ I heard my voice crack, but I didn't care. _That isn't him. That isn't me. It's an illusion. _ I felt displeasure leak from the others around me. _"Punish her!" _snapped the most hostile globe, on that had taken extreme pleasure in my pain before. _"Make her regret lying with that vamperic scum." _ First's image faded, and the others drifted closer to me. _"Regrettably, it seems the only way to keep you in check, my dear." _ He said, drifting with the others.

_I'm not you dear anything. _I said in a last show of defiance, bracing myself for the pain they would inflict. It took them a little bit to get around to it though. They would drift very close, and I felt a poke at my arm or side, then they would drift away. Then the prods came faster, harder. Soon they were painful smacks that knocked me back and forth. I knew taunting them wasn't very wise, but I couldn't help it. _ Beach volleyball, how horrible a punishment. I must say, you gain a whole new perspective being the ball. Who's winning?_ They stopped for a second, floating at different intervals, in a shocked sort of way. Then they started again. Even harder.

I felt something vaguely familiar rip across my back, and yelped. I was the center of a whirlwind of light, and occasionally they would deviate from their course and I would feel a stinging swipe across my back. I was knocked back and forth, blood dripping from my back, arms, legs, and front. It ran down my face from a cut in my scalp, and I whimpered as a bit got in my eye. I felt myself waking up, and desperately lunged for the light of the morning. I fell out of bed with a thud, panting hard. I looked back up at the bed to see if I had woken Alucard, but he seemed fast asleep. _Thank god it was just a dream._

Then I looked down. I was a mass of bruises and cuts, scraping across my entire body and the stinging on my back attributed to more in that vicinity. The somewhat familiar feeling of the attack was explained when I held up my arm. Razor-thin claw marks, like those of a really big cat, crossed back and forth on my arm, on my whole body, like a blind man's game of tic-tac-toe-knife-style. I felt a panic attack at what I might do about hiding them. _They're all over my body, and probably all over my face too! What do I do!_ And, to put a cap on it all, I heard Alucard stir and mutter. _Oh crap._

_Alucard's POV:_

I felt myself rising to the surface of sleep, sensing Zara was no longer in bed with me. Then I smelt the blood. I whipped upright, momentarily relieved to see her sitting on the floor, where she had probably fallen out of bed. Then I felt a tidal wave of rage. Her face, and in fact her entire body, was bruised, like she had been pounded by a set of weights. Claw marks covered her, stretching along her arms, legs, and even one that streaked across her face. "WHAT. HAPPENED." I said, not quite yelling the words. She gingerly got to her feet. "First and the others apparently can influence my physical body."

I slid out of her bed, gently running my hand over her wounds, assessing them. "You should heal by lunch. Does it hurt?" She shrugged and winced. "It stings a little." I nodded. "That's normal. But you didn't answer my question. What happened? You can tell it like it is, because I can't get more angry than I already am." She leaned into me, wincing again. "Does it explain when I say First took the whole daddy-with-a-shotgun act _way_ too far?" I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "Yes. And if you ever think he's trying to influence you again, tell me. I'll spend my time trying to figure out how to kill him, again."

_**Ouch. She's going to need a whole morning of chicken noodle soup and tissues to get over this newest development. Sadly, we aren't done with First and the others. If you want to wring their necks, that's okay, you're supposed to want to do that. Personally, I don't bother with anything so mundane. BEAT HIM OVER THE HEAD WITH AN ACTIVE CHAINSAW! I can see it now, *brummmm-neooooow-splat-drip-gush-repeat-brummmm-n eooooow-splat-drip-gush- repeat *. Such an interesting mental image, isn't it? No, I am not in any way affiliated with homicidal maniacs. I saw a YouTube video(you should look, it's really cool) of a guy swinging a chainsaw(it was on a cord, he was swinging it like a…umm… hurling ball?) At his bushes, trying to cut them, and I thought that'd be really messed up to do to a human. Think about it… yeah, I know, so creepy! Review, Request (This is important, please try), Rcomment(which still starts with R, as all can plainly see). Auf Wedersien!**_


	14. Chapter 14

_**Okay, so nobody has come up with filler (Including myself) so I'm just going to go ahead and start doing my plotline. But you can still pop in ideas, I won't mind. I'm just tying up some ideas I had earlier, and then starting on the BIG IDEA. So here goes nothing. Also, where are you guys? Earlier it was like, bam, bam, bam, bam, I had reviews pouring down my throat. Now I'm all alone… in the great empty space of the electronic networks…all alone… well, to be fair, flameslavier has been reviewing a little bit. But other than that, I'm all alone…**_

_Zara's POV:_

I sat back down on my bed, wincing. "What excuse am I going to use? I can't just say "Oh, well, my ancestors who brought me back to life didn't like that I was sleeping with Alucard, so they attacked me, and they only exist in my own head." No one would believe me, and they'd focus more on the whole "sleeping with Alucard" thing anyway." He rubbed his chin, pacing back and forth. "We'll just say you're sleeping in. You _are_ a teenager." I sighed, laying down on the bed. "But what do I do until my wounds are healed?" He rolled his eyes. "_Sleep_." I considered this for a moment. "But I'm not tired." I whined, rolling over. He put his head in his hands. "I take that back. You're a toddler."

I sat up. "No, there's a fine line between toddlers and teenagers. See, toddlers put everything in their mouths, and teenagers are constantly hooked into a media device. But they're both whiny, grabbing, shrieking, pushing, overly social, and _want_ things. Get it?" He sighed, sitting down next to me. "Not really. Am I going to have to hypnotize you?" I scotched away from him. "No. I'll go to sleep, I promise." I quickly lay down, covering myself with the blankets. "See? Sleeping." I heard him chuckle, and before I could duck all the way under the covers he kissed my nose. I made a show of wiping it, before he phased through the door. I closed my eyes, already drifting back to sleep.

_Alucard's POV:_

A few hours later, I figured it was time to wake Zara up. I phased into her room, frowning when I saw she wasn't there. I sniffed, smelling her scent, but no one else's. Her trail led out the window, dropping down to ground level before sneaking off through the forest. I followed it, feeling a flash of alarm when I saw it led straight to the sea. We had cliffs that led to the sea, and one small beach, and I didn't know why she would go to either. At least I hoped I didn't. Thankfully, the trail led to the beach instead of the cliffs. She was standing in the surf, about waist deep in water, still in her pajamas. "Zara! Get back here!" I yelled, feeling angry.

She didn't seem to hear me, and she walked a pace further in. I was extremely confused, until I spotted a flash of movement offshore. A shark's fin, swimming in a circle. Then, as I watched in horror, it twitched and began heading straight for Zara. Seemingly oblivious to my increasingly desperate calls and the sharks fin, she crouched down in the water, barely keeping her mouth above the surface. I remembered my guns, but before I could even aim, she suddenly dove under the surface, and the shark's fin stopped, hanging in the water. I was going to shoot the shark anyway, but I froze when I saw her hand appear on the fin, gently stroking it. _What the…?_

_Zara's POV:_

In my dream, Mark was swimming in front of me, very panicked. _"Shark-not-shark not hurt?" _he asked, moving close to me. _Shark-not-shark not _very _hurt. _I said, wanting to be truthful. He gently grabbed my arm in his teeth, attempting to tug me farther out to sea. _"Shark-not-shark needs to get away. Bad thing here." _ I let him drag me, stroking his dorsal fin to calm him down. _Bad thing?_ He let go of me, swimming in a circle as he tried to think. _"Very bad thing. Fast like Mako, fierce like barracuda. Strong like octopus. Bad thing." _ He somehow gave me a image, which was more smell than picture.

A dim image, like the hull of a ship seen from the sea. Flashes of light, like explosions, and then a few drops of blood hit the water. They smelled strange, like…_ Mark._ I giggled. _That's a vampire. I know that one. He's not so bad._ Mark gave me a suspicious look out of the corner of his eye. _"Know? Vampires not known. Vampires kill."_ I shook my head, small streamers of bubbles rising from it. _Like, I swim with him sometimes, and he's part of my pod._ I knew no fishy words, so I used concepts when in a pickle. _He hunts for me. He…umm… he's a friend._ I ran out of concepts right about there.

Mark suddenly lurched in the water. _Mark?_ He shook himself, wiggling in the water like a eel. _"Mark feels strange…"_ he suddenly bucked in the water, and I swear he was compacting._ MARK! _ I couldn't believe my eyes. He was compacting, shrinking into a tiny ball of light. I reached out for him, and the ball suddenly darted toward my chest, absorbing into it and disappearing. I sniffled, even though I was underwater. _Mark…_ I heard his voice again. _Shark-not-shark? Mark is here. But Mark feels strange. Mark is trapped. Mark wants out!_ I felt something inside of me change, and for a second my skin grew tiny little sandpaper ridges. _OUT!_ I bucked, twisting in the water.

I felt my arms suddenly contract, and blinked. I tried to turn my head to see what was going on, but it couldn't turn without the rest of my body following. I tried kicking my legs, and a powerful tail swished behind me. I gasped, trying to breathe air, and water flooded my lungs. But then it flooded out, just as fast. _What the heck?_ I felt something rise to the surface of my thoughts. _Mark feels much better. Hey, Mark can see much better too!_ I would have swallowed, but I was doing it already. _Umm, Mark? Shark-not-shark just grew gills. And a tail. And shark-not-shark looks like a shark now._ _WHAT DID MARK DO!?_ He paused to consider this. _Mark got out._ I tried to calm myself. _Mark get back in? Shark-not-shark does not belong like a shark._

I felt him reluctantly subside, then I was kicking towards the surface, hacking and expelling water from my lungs. My entire body felt like I had been squeezed through a steel pipe, and I think my bones were throbbing. _Probably a byproduct of shapeshifting. Damn I hurt!_ I looked down at myself. I was wearing my pajamas. _Thank god this is just a dream. Poor Mark!_ I heard someone calling my name. "Alucard?" I said, working my jaw back and forth. It still felt a little weird. I was suddenly snatched from the water, and pressed against Alucard's jacket front. "Hey, wait, I thought vampires can't go in water?" I said into his chest. _Of course, I _am _dreaming._

He held me away from him. "They can't. I had to phase there and back very quickly to get you." Then he seemed to remember something. "Which reminds me, WHY THE HELL WERE YOU IN THE OCEAN!?" I blinked. "I don't know. This is the weirdest dream I've had in ages." He snorted. "I've heard of sleepwalking, but you are ridiculous. Somehow, in your sleep, you walked all the way out here and dove in the ocean to confront a shark. I didn't see the rest." I rubbed the back of my head. "Oh. Hey, is there anything in my mouth, it feels weird." I opened it, and he raised his eyebrows. "Nothing in it, no. Your teeth, however, have morphed into shark teeth in the back."  
I grabbed a mirror from my pajama pocket and looked at my back teeth. "Cool" I said, seeing that my back teeth had become all long and pointy, like Mark's. "So I can shapeshift now? 'Cause I think I just did, and I was a _shark_. How cool is that?" He sighed, stroking my hair. "If I say to never do that again, will you listen?" I shrugged. "Maybe. I'll try, but since I was doing it in my sleep I have no clue if I can stop myself." I felt my teeth shrinking, which was a relief, because they were not easy to talk with. "Also, I think I was only doing it to go get Mark." He blinked. "Mark?"

I grinned at him. "He's my shark! That one day I got bit, that was because Mark had gotten bitten by another shark and I had to get him away safely so-" Alucard interrupted me. "So you got him to attack you? Not a smart move. You almost died." I glared up at him. "No. He only bit me once, to get my blood flowing so it would attract other sharks that would have been attacking him instead. All the other stuff was a different shark." He raised his eyebrows. "Well, you'll have some explaining to do with Sir Integra." I shrugged. "Also, we need to build a shark tank, because if we don't I think Mark will go cuckoo. " He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Anything else?"

I shrugged. "Not really." He nodded, grabbing my arm and phasing back to the Manor. I put on some normal people clothes, silently thanking the fact I wasn't going to be a sleepwalker, at least hopefully. When I got to the kitchen, I saw everyone staring at Techno, who was gaping at a letter he held in his hands. I peered over his shoulder, trying to read it. _"__You are cordially invited to the Convention of Twelve, held this year at the Vatican. There will be groups for hire, as well as all the top occult organizations and their heads. Mercenary groups are required to have an invitation to enter and may not exceed four members. Formal wear is not required, although advised. Be aware that small contests of arms will be going on, although most will refrain from such activities. This is _neutral_ ground, and no group is allowed to challenge another on previous grievances. It will be held on the First of August, starting at 8'o clock sharp and ending at midnight. Lunch and dinner provided."_

_ I grabbed the letter, running towards Integra's office. "I don't have to go, do I?" I begged, shoving it at her. She skimmed it, raising her eyebrows. "Of course you do. You are the descendant of one of the greatest vampire hunting families in history. If it makes you feel any better, Pip and your friends will have to come too." I banged my head against the wall. "No, it does not. Why-why-why-why-why-why!" Each why was accompanied by a thud as I smacked my head against the wall. Alucard phased into the room, looking dejected. "Do I have to come too?" Integra glared at him. "Of course, or are you going to leave me unprotected?" He sighed, muttering "I would this time, if it's all the same to you." We both sighed. "Just get out." Integra said, flicking her hands at us. I stalked out, followed by Alucard._

_ "What are we going to do?" I moaned, putting my head in my hands. He growled. "Show up, then leave as soon as possible." I shook my head. "Integra will want you to stay, and I'm going to be what everyone's staring at. After all, I did come back from the dead." He sighed, fingering one of his guns. "Stupid no hostility rule. Everything would be so much more interesting if we could fight." I rubbed my chin. "Why couldn't you challenge someone to a small duel?" He snorted. "Have you ever seen me and Anderson fight? Our duels have a way of getting out of hand."_

_ "Wait…" I said, remembering part of the letter. "It said no __group__ can fight because of __previous __grievances. What would they do if a fight broke out because of something someone said __there__?" He stared at me for a moment, then grinned. "You would have to be very sneaky about it." I nodded. "I can be very sneaky when I need to be. After all, I survived by pickpocketing." He pulled me close to him and kissed the top of my head. "You are a diabolical genius." He phased away, and I walked down the hall, thinking of a way to start a fight with a bunch of fanatics. This was going to be __fun__._

_**If you think I was being desperate, well, the convention of Twelve (which I entirely made up, I think. If something similar is called the same thing, no copywrite intentions) is supposed to be a yearly thing. They're going to build a shark tank for Mark, yay! What chaos will Alucard and Zara cause at a party? Oh, if only you knew… it's going to be awesome! *evil laugh* I am slightly more motivated than when I started this, yay! But don't hesitate to give me ideas, let your little schemes loose! I promise to do my best writing them up! Writing for this is so much fun, maybe when I'm done I can do a bunch of oneshots, like a after/middle/before story booklet! Oh man, that just got me really inspired. You better hope I finish this before I start writing that! R, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	15. Chapter 15

_**Still all alone…no one has reviewed…all alone… :( Well, on from depressing subjects. I almost forgot to tell you people, and it really doesn't matter right this second, but from June 28 to July 16 I will not be online at all, because I will be traveling to England with PeopletoPeople. Again, doesn't matter very much **__now, __**but if I'm in the middle of a story then, you're out of luck until the 17**__**th**__**. Actually, I won't just be going to England, I'll be going to Scotland, Wales, and Ireland (both parts). Nineteen days in the U.K! Also, I've noticed that large portions of my text are italicized, when they weren't in the original document. Very sorry about that, and I'll try to repost those chapters, along with this one.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I sat in the plane seat, staring out the window as Techno and Manic played a kind of verbal Dungeons and Dragons. "Then I plunge the plane in a nose dive, headed straight for a volcano!" Techno said, folding his arms. Maniac laughed. "But I am invulnerable to fire, so you and the plane are incinerated as I make my escape. Then I dump a whole boatload of melted rubber over the top of the volcano to seal you in!" Techno slammed a hand on his armrest. "But the volcano will be erupting, so you and your seal are blown sky-high, and you are killed when you fall back to earth." Maniac pointed a finger in his face.

"I will use my disk bombs to propel myself onto a passing jet!" He blinked, then said "Well I have survived the volcano blast and am trailing behind the jet with my wires, and I electrocute it, sending you to a watery grave in the icy Atlantic!" She giggled. "I jump on an iceberg and send sharks after you!" He straightened in his seat, staring at her angrily. "Well I electrocute them into doing my bidding, and send them to attack your iceberg and push it to warmer water!" She scowled. "I blow them up with my disk bombs." He chuckled. "They are bomb-proof sharks who live in a volcano and they eat bombs to give them power!" she stared at him for a second, then said "Well, I use them as stepping stones to hop onto a nearby island!" He rubbed his chin. "The island is a desert island with nothing but a palm tree and a big rock on it!"

That stumped her for a little longer than usual, but she came through. "I carve out the rock using my disk bombs and paddle to shore using the tree as an oar!" he scowled. "My sharks bite through the bottom." She shook her head. "It's a big diamond rock, they can't even scratch it!" He thought for a moment. "Pirates in a nuclear sub pass by and steal you and your diamond canoe!" She giggled. "I blow them up with their own missiles!" He shook his head. "Your missiles backfire and explode, killing you and everyone else on that sub. In fact, they set off a chain reaction that blows up the entire eastern seaboard! And that sets off a chain reaction that destroys the whole world, and speeds up the sun's lifetime, until it explodes, and the entire Milky Way galaxy is turned into a black hole!"

I give her credit, it only took about ten seconds before she came up with something. "I become a ghost and posses you." He laughed. "Yes, but I'm blown up with everything else! You cannot win!" They both looked puzzled, and then Maniac finally said "Truce?" He nodded. "Truce." I breathed a sigh of relief, and I could hear Auger and Adit doing the same in the row behind me. "They lost me the minute they started talking about volcanoes." Adit muttered, putting his noise-cancelling headphones back in. Auger flicked her magazine back open. "I hung on until the iceberg. Then I got hopelessly lost." I sighed again, gently banging my head into my seat back. "I was totally onboard the whole entire time." I moaned. "And I regret it."

Seras was sleeping in her coffin, as was Soarece. Alucard looked like he was sleeping too, so it was just us humans this time around. Integra was reading in the very front of the jet, just behind the pilot cabin, probably looking over her forms she needed to sign and discussions she needed to participate in. I contemplated the possibility of grabbing a parachute and jumping overboard, but I couldn't leave Soarece to suffer alone. Alucard too, but he had been suffering under this sort of thing for a while. Besides, I wanted to see my plan in action. I hadn't told Alucard, or anyone else, what I was going to do, but I wasn't going to do anything. At least hopefully, if anyone caught me that would be a bit hard to explain.

_Maxwell's POV:_

I waited, resigned to the fact that Hellsing was indeed going to show up. First off the plane was Alucard, who was just as demonic as ever. I remembered the fight he had caused the meeting before last, and winced. Hopefully he was over his little mood, although it had plagued him for three years. Integra Fairbrook Wingates Hellsing was next, and I gritted my teeth to see her walking along the tarmac like she owned it. Alucard's fledgling was next, yawning as she stumbled off the plane. She was followed by a group of teenagers from the younger mercenary group, along with a vampire I didn't know. _Damned heretics, corrupting God's own children._ The vampire and Alucard seemed to be waiting for someone else to get off the plane, and my composure almost dropped when I saw that _creature_, that _demon_, stroll down, pausing to hug the new vampire and stick her tongue out at Alucard.

She had not changed much in three years. She was a little taller, a little older, and wore completely black sunglasses that blocked out her eyes completely. Several things clicked in my head as the whole group walked towards me. _This creature was gone for the same period of time that Alucard had been violent. Her physical appearance had not changed much at all. She wore sun-blocking glasses._ Then I wondered how she had been when we tested her, and relaxed. _Thank God she cannot be turned by a vampire. I wonder how long that demon has been interested in her?_ They stopped in front of me, and I plastered a smile on my face. Anderson, who was standing next to me, didn't bother, scowling at the demons.

"Maxwell." Said Sir Integra coldly. "Integra Hellsing." I said, just as distant. "Alucard, Seras, Techno, Alexander Anderson, Maniac, Auger, Zara, Adit." Said that _girl_ cheerfully, gesturing to the separate groups. "Now that we've stated the obvious, let's go!" I stared at her, trying very hard not to do something I would regret. "You haven't changed." I said frostily, glaring at her. She flashed a grin at me. "Nope. Neither have you. I don't know about you, Anderson? You done anything new with your life since our last meeting?" He growled, one hand reaching inside his coat. Alucard stepped forward, reaching inside his coat as well. "Stop!" I shouted, putting a hand on Anderson's shoulder. That damned demon reached up to Alucard's shoulder, yanking on it till he backed off. He scowled at Anderson, one hand resting protectively on the girl's back.

Integra interrupted. "Honestly, you're squabbling like children. Zara, stop being rude to Iscariot. Apologize now." She sighed, bowing slightly and muttering "I apologize for making you mad sir. It won't happen again." I forced a cheerful smile. "Quite alright, young people sometimes speak without thinking." _But not you, you snake-tongued vixen._ She smiled gratefully, backing up a little. We made it to the van without incident, and I drove, thankfully spared the argument over who got to sit where going on in the back. "Integra sits there because she's in charge, Alucard sits here, and we all sit here!" I heard the girl yell. "Why does he get to sit on a seat?" Seras wailed. _Because he's her lover._ I thought to myself. "Any of you want to try taking it from him?" I heard Techno say, and the back was instantly quiet.

"That's why." The demon-child said, and we both rolled our eyes. "Like cats and dogs isn't it sir?" Anderson said quietly, and I nodded. "I heard that!" said several voices from the back seats, including Seras's, the demon-child, and the new vampire. I managed to keep a straight face, but what I really wanted to do was bang my head against the dashboard. _I can't take an hour stuck in a confined space with these people, I'll go insane._ "Anyone want to sing 99 bottles of pop on a wall?" said one of the mercenaries, and I accidentally jerked the steering wheel in terror. "NO!" bellowed Anderson, Sir Integra, and myself. As the children in the back snickered, I longingly considered the possibility of suicide. "What can we sing then?" asked the demon-child, catching my eye in the mirror.

I paused in consideration. "Why don't you Christmas carols or something? I'm sure we'll appreciate that." They all chuckled, and a song started up. I immediately regretted allowing them to sing at all. _"Dashing though the snow, on a pair of broken skis, over the hills we go, crashing into trees! The snow is turning red, I think I'm almost dead, woke up in the hospital with stitches on my head!_ _OH jingle bells, jingle bells, __Santa Claus__ is dead, Rudolph got a four by four and shot him in the head!" _My eye twitched as they chanted this song over and over, filling my head with its obscene rhymes. "That is psychotic!" I yelled, finally overcome. "But catchy!" they all yelled back, seemly unconcerned. I realized with horror that Anderson was humming the tune under his breath. I nudged him sharply. "Anderson!" I hissed under my breath, and he stopped. "Sorry sir. It _does_ get stuck in your head after a while."

The children in the back all laughed hysterically, and I was reaching for a gun to shoot myself when Integra chimed in. "I'm terribly sorry Maxwell, but they were stuck in a plane for several hours. Be glad they didn't have any candy." I stared at her in mute horror via the mirror. "Don't worry, it only takes 58 more minutes to get to the Vatican!" chirped the vampire girl, and I twitched. _How does that woman stay sane with these people in her house all year!? _I wanted to jerk the steering wheel and drive off a cliff, but there weren't any on the road we were using. _Just my luck._ _Why did they have to be important enough for me to meet them!?_

_Zara's POV:_

When we arrived at the Vatican, Maxwell, Anderson, and Integra all ran for the doors. I couldn't blame them; the last ten minutes of the drive had tested even my patience. Alucard had displayed more patience than I thought possible and not even threatened to shoot us. He swept by me, muttering. "I hope that wasn't your plan." I snickered. _No. I'm just warming up._ Techno chuckled behind me. "You know, I thought Maxwell was going to shoot me after the spitballs." I rubbed my chin. "You know, I was wondering why he was waving it around. Here I thought he was trying to hit the paper airplane."

"Integra won't fire us will she?" Soarece asked, looking at us with wide eyes. We, as veterans of such endless campaigns, were much more relaxed. "She will be extremely grumpy for several days, but other than that, she'll be fine." _Unlike Maxwell. I would almost feel sorry for him, but I would have to forget just what happened on that ship._ Regretfully, I couldn't do anything that caused a national incident, but I could work within that parameter. Few people appreciate that fine-tuned instrument of a child's annoyance factor. If all went well, Maxwell would be running around the walls by midafternoon.

_Maxwell's POV:_

Five minutes after I had escaped into the Vatican, I felt like the world had turned against me. When I first stepped into the foyer, my shoes skidded out from under me and I crashed to the floor. Integra smirked. "Bit slippery isn't it?" I said, trying to feign confusion. I heard a throaty chuckle behind me, and saw Alucard openly laughing, and I gritted my teeth. The mercenaries stopped in the entrance, all peering at me, then trying to hold back snickers of their own. The demon stared at me, raising an eyebrow. "Over wax the floors or something?" she said slyly. I glared at her, getting to my feet. "Over exuberant maids I expect." I said, dusting myself off, trying to maintain as much dignity as I could. Since they were both at the back of the group, no one else saw, but I glimpsed Alucard's hand brush the abomination's gently, and they both smirked.

_Why that little…_ I ground my teeth together, trying to maintain my rage. Anderson started forward, slightly exposing his bayonets. I saw Integra move forward as well, and Alucard and his fledgling growled. The demon-girl stepped forward, smiling slightly in anticipation. The mercenaries moved forward, reaching for their weapons. A voice interrupted us. "Integra! Maxwell! Hurry up! We're starting!" Sir Penwood strode towards us, peering at the demon-girl. "Oh, you must be Mrs. Pazúry. Please, come this way." He ushered her and the young vampire towards a gathering of men from various organizations, all of whom were looking interested.

I was led away with Integra, with the vampire and his fledgling accompanying her, and with Anderson trailing behind me. When we sat down at the meeting table, I felt a slight prick of pain in my leg, and looked down to see a splinter lodged in my ankle _I could have sworn we polished these yesterday…_ Then I remembered the high five exchanged by the girl and Alucard. _Curse her. I don't know what her goals are, but curse her to hell._ I bent down and picked it out, wincing a little. As we got deeper into the meeting, I relaxed. There was no way that the girl could cause anything now… "AHH!" a maid's shriek and the sound of splintering glass made everyone at the table jump. The woman serving us drinks was staring at a window, and I turned to see the demon-child hanging upside down in front of it, facing away from us. She turned, seeing the horrified faces of the council members and the broken glass on the table.

She swung upwards, and a voice on the walkie-talkie said "Sorry sirs, we were testing her ability to survive with increased blood flow to the brain, and the only way to do that was to hang her upside-down. On a positive note, she seems fine…" I rubbed my forehead in resignation as the whole council began twitting about how the scientists should have been more careful about testing. I saw Alucard grab one, and was close enough to hear him question if she had volunteered to do this. "Oh yes sir, she seems fine with it! Very polite girl." Said the scientist, before hanging up. He put it back, before backing away to a polite distance and watching us with narrowed eyes.

The meeting went on without a hitch after that, and we had finished up when I heard a shrieking sound, accompanied every few seconds by a splintering crash. I stood up, running towards the sound of the disturbance, imagining rogue vampires, ghouls, anything. What I got was far worse. The scientists were shooting some of my best china in the air, and the vampire girl was standing underneath them, darting upward every few seconds to smash into a plate of bowl, completely destroying it in a tortured shriek of air. "STOP!" I bellowed, and the all froze. "Sorry sir, but these were the only ones were could find. You wouldn't want a whole bunch of dusty plates cluttering up the place anyway!" said a scientist, waving said china in front of me. "We'll clean it all up." Said the vampire, standing on one leg.

I put my head in my hands. "That was my best china, all of it was antiques!" I saw the demon-girl in a corner, stirring a few shards with one finger. "Probably cheap knockoffs. They shattered like _glass_. The real antiques are much stronger." I could feel my eye twitching. "Maybe because they were being hit by a _vampire_." She rubbed her chin. "Probably. Hey, is it my turn to be tested again!" One of the scientists consulted a checklist. "How fast can you run, and how long can you run that fast?" She scratched her head. "I dunno. Hey, Maxwell, do you have a track field?" I nodded stiffly. "Behind the house and to the left." She grinned. "Thanks!"

They all trooped out, and I was left in the hall with my dishes all smashed on the ground, wondering feverishly how much peace treaties I would be violating if I strangled that insolent _demon_. The vampire Alucard phased through the wall next to me. "Not very many, but you would have to deal with _me_. Her death would put me in a very bad temper." I swallowed. Dealing with Alucard in a bad mood was not a very good idea, and he didn't care what he violated for revenge. "It was just a passing thought." He growled, looming over me. "It had better be." He phased away, and I took a deep breath. _Damn both of them to hell._

_Zara's POV_

_ "_Okay, on your mark, get set…" the woman who was putting me through me paces was very nice, and I didn't mind being tested if there was an actual _reason_ for it, and this was for the greater good. "GO!" I took off, trying to run as fast as I could. I felt like I wasn't going fast enough, even though the faces of the scientists and Soarece were just light colored blurs as I whizzed by them. _Think faster. Imagine you're being chased by dogs._ I managed to put on another burst of speed, but it still wasn't enough. _Think that Captain, the Major, Doc, and all of Millennium and their allies are chasing after you. FASTER!_ I ran faster, trying to reach that limit that was dangling just out of my reach. I was so close…so close… NOW! I felt that beautiful sensation of having reached my limit and ran, keeping that pace for as long as I could, which was about five minutes.

I skidded to a stop, feeling sweat soak my body, and I was gasping for air. Someone handed me a water bottle, and I swallowed again and again, trying to get the water back into me where it belonged. I kneeled on the ground, to mustering the energy to get up, just resting my tired muscles. "How'd I do?" I finally managed to croak. "Excellent. You were clocked at almost sixty miles an hour for a while there." The woman said, and I smiled, feeling a warm flush of pride. Soarece helped me up, and I leaned on her shoulder. "What's next?" I whispered, feeling drained. All the scientists looked disappointed, and I frowned. "You are far too tired for more testing right now." Said the woman sternly, and the others nodded reluctantly.

I let them drag me to a chair inside, then snoozed for about two hours. I woke up to a flood of sound, and realized blearily that a dance was going on in the room I fell asleep in. I automatically looked around for Maxwell, and was pleased to see he was as tightly strung as a bowstring. Techno had obviously been at work, and I caught his eye as he swirled by with Soarece, and winked. He winked back, and we shared a moment of mutual dislike for Maxwell before he and Soarece were swept away by the crowd. I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Alucard. I read the question in his eyes and said "I'm working on it. Maxwell's being stubborn." He chuckled. "I wanted to congratulate you. I haven't had so much fun at one of these meetings in ages. Which one of you did the fish?"

I winked at him. "Neither of us did anything! It's Maxwell's fault if he objects to fish in his desk. Of course, I had no idea he had fish in his desk. After all, I was asleep this whole time. Hey, how is Maxwell? I need him to be very snippy if I want this to work." He glanced over to Maxwell, whose eye was twitching again. "Right now he is thinking equal thoughts of killing you or himself. He's ready to snap at anyone for the smallest thing. Why?" I didn't answer. "The less you know the less Integra can find out. Is there anyone here who he could get in trouble with? Any superiors?" He looked around, then nodded. "Yes, you see that man over there? Sir Islands is the head of the Round Table. What are you planning?" I said nothing. "Just ignore me for the next ten minutes, and you can do whatever you want after that." I slid out of the chair, heading straight for Maxwell.

I looked behind me, but Alucard was gone. _Okay, that makes this a lot easier and a lot more intimidating._ I grabbed an apple from one of the stands and wandered over to where Maxwell was sitting, munching on it causally. "Excuse me sir?" I said, crunching my last bite of apple. He looked up, and assumed his coldest expression. "Yes?" he said shortly. I tossed my apple core into a nearby garbage can, and asked "Why are you wearing such a plain cross? Seems a silly thing to have, I mean, I know Integra wears one, but is that just a Protestant thing, or do Catholics-" The rest of my sentence was cut off as he whipped a gun out and began shooting at me wildly. Everyone began screaming and I ducked as a bayonet shot past my head. _ALUCARD!_

He phased out of nowhere, crouching over me and shielding me from Maxwell's bullets. "Well done." He muttered into my ear, and I suppressed a smirk. The shots stopped, and Alucard straightened, pulling me up with him. Sir Islands was shouting at Maxwell, who was being forcibly restrained by several of his own organization. "Now," he said, calming down and facing me. "What on earth did you say to get him so riled up?" I rubbed the back of my neck. "I asked why he wore a cross like the one Sir Integra wears, and he freaked out." Integra looked surprised, then frowned. Anderson, who had been standing by Maxwell the whole time, nodded grudgingly. "That she did sir. I heard her. She asked him why he was wearing a cross, and compared it to the one Sir Hellsing wears." He nodded towards Integra.

Sir Islands took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. "Maxwell, I am disappointed. It was a simple enough question." Maxwell snarled. "She's been doing things to me all day! I found fish in my desk!" Everyone, who was of course listening in on this, gasped. I rolled my eyes, looking hurt. "Have not! I was training with the scientists, and then I took a nap in the corner of there!" I pointed to the chair I had been occupying all afternoon. Many people nodded thoughtfully, and several servers spoke up. "She was sir! I saw when I was cleaning up for the tables!" "I saw here when I was cooking the food!" This went on, and I basically had witnesses for the entire afternoon.

Maxwell was seething with fury, and he freed himself with a jerk of his arms and stalked out of the room. Sir Islands apologized to me and the room at large, then went after him. I meekly let Integra yell at me for several minutes, and walked to a quiet corner when I was done. It wouldn't do to be seen gloating. When I was there I laughed myself breathless, remembering the look of astonished fury on Maxwell's face when he realized he had been witnessed shooting at me. I felt a moment of worry when I thought about security cameras, then relaxed. I was in a closet, and I knew there were no cameras here. It was a maintenance closet in the women's bathroom, so nobody would have seen me come in either.

Well, almost nobody. I felt much less roomy all of a sudden when Alucard phased into the closet with me. "I wish I had brought a camera." He said quietly, and that set me off into another laughter fit. "He'll never forgive me." I said, chokingly, trying not to be too loud. He chuckled. "No, he probably won't. Which reminds me, am I on your bad side? I don't want to have the same treatment someday." I rubbed my chin, considering this. "Only if you leave my head and thoughts alone. I get headaches all the time from when you try to break in." I felt him shift and he rubbed my forehead gently. "That wasn't my intention. Are you coming out soon? Techno wants to congratulate you." I opened the door, moving around Alucard as I did so. "Yeah, I want to see his face when I tell him it was my goal the whole time!"

_**Poor Maxwell. There is nothing crueler than sticking someone in a van of bored teenagers. (I know this from personal experience. 99 bottles of pop on the wall, 99 bottles of pop! Take one down, pass it around, 98 bottles of pop on the wall! That gets old **__real__** fast.) I was gone almost all day at some parade or something, so this was a bit hackneyed for the ending. (Look it up) I got one more review! Are you people all grounded or something? Or did I just suck at writing for the past few chapters? Please tell me. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	16. Chapter 16

_**YOU' RE BACK! I am no longer floating in a sea of loneliness! Thanks guys, I felt like I was talking to myself again. I love what I did to Maxwell last chapter. Think of him rushing off to various annoying tasks all day, then have someone ask him about his religion and compare it to one he hates. Poor guy must have nearly lost it. Now that I think back, he did lose it. I knew there was a reason I didn't make him die horribly last fanfic! (Much as I was tempted) This time, this time he will die a horrible and gruesome death, I promise. (Ideas will help, because what happened to him in the Ova can't really be topped by anything I can come up with) Zara is now going to be swarmed with misfortune and I'm going to say sorry in advance. SORRY! Ok, nasty stuff now. Also, sorry about the two day wait, but I had to do homework.**_

_Zara's POV:_

Well, it was certainly a subdued plane ride back. Pip, who had driven down, nearly yanked his braid out when he heard what I did. Integra had given me a _really_ long lecture, and made it clear if I ever did anything like that again, she would fire me. But in both of their lectures, I detected a hint of pride. After all, I had managed to make Maxwell look like a crazy nutjob. But it was still a really subdued atmosphere. I sat hunched over in the farthest corner away from Integra, who was still glaring at me. I smirked a little, remembering something Pip had said mid lecture _"Merde! I wish I didn't have to be with the mercenaries! I would have given up vodka to see that!"_

When we landed, I scuttled over to my room, figuring I'd best lay low for a while. When I got there I fell on the bed, instantly going into a thankfully dreamless and nasty-relatives-less sleep. I woke up sometime later, noting that I was still alone in my bed. _Thank god. I don't know if I could take another beating like that, even if I do heal._ Then I realized it was still dark out. I was instantly on alert. My life, both sides, was not one where you just wake up in the middle of the night. My instincts were just as finely honed now as they were three years ago. And right now they were wondering what woke me up. _What did I hear?_ A tiny rustling sound came from my window, and I drew one of my knives.

"Mew?" a tiny kitten's voice came from the shrubs by my window, and I relaxed. I went over, slowly opening the window and looking down. A pathetic scrap of sodden black fur mewed again. Tiny yellow eyes blinked open and it wailed, showing its tiny milk teeth. "Poor thing!" I gently picked him up, cradling him in my arms. "What are you doing here?" His thoughts came, very blurred and disjointed. _Momma? Cat-momma? Bad men came, picked me up with big hands! Momma!_ I stroked him, realizing coldly he was barely old enough to have opened his eyes. "I don't know where your momma is. What did the big-hand-men smell like?" He whimpered.

_Candles, silver, dust. Bad mens are close by!_ I jerked away from the window, but I was too late. A tiny feathered dart hit my upper arm, and I knew I had seconds before I blacked out. _Listen to me! You need to tell this man-_ I showed him a smell-sound-image of Alucard._ –that I got taken away. Show him exactly what you showed me, and what these people look like! I'm counting on you! _I wrapped my arms around the kitten, pushing as much of my need and memories into him, before l blacked out and let him fall to the floor.

_Kitten's POV:_

I almost cried out in fear when large-cat-momma dropped me, but I scrambled away like she had showed me. I watched from under her bed as the bad mens came and dragged her upright. I tried to concentrate, seeing the shiny disk-collar around their necks and their mean faces. I mewed angrily, realizing they were going to take her away. One bent down, and picked me up by the scruff of my neck. I hissed and spat, trying to get away. "Leave it Anderson." One of the shorter ones said, and I stopped in wonder, because I could actually understand what the big hands were saying, unlike before when they sounded like barking dogs. The big hand named Anderson threw me against a wall, cradling the wound I had given him earlier.

I felt a crack in my side and wailed in pain. I slid to the ground, barely staying awake. I saw the big hands leave, and struggled to my feet. Large-cat-momma had given me an order, and I would do it. I limped down a tunnel, smelling the scent she had showed me. It grew stronger as I went down, and my fur bristled in fear. The smell was thick in the air, and it smelled like power and the scary creatures momma had told me about once. I almost turned and ran back up the stairs, but I stumbled on, remembering that large-cat-momma had said she was depending on me. I saw a door, and scratched at it weakly. It swung open, and I cowered on the floor, seeing the huge big-hand that occupied it. He looked down, and picked me up by the scruff of my neck, just like the Alexander big-hand.

He shrugged, then held me over his mouth, and I wailed when I realized he was going to eat me. "Large-cat-momma sent me!" I shrieked, twisting desperately in his grip, sending him an image of her. He choked and dropped me, but caught me before I hit the floor. "What the…" he stared at me, and I tried to explain best I could. "Large-cat-momma said bad men takes her, and said to show you!" I mewed, showing him what she told me too, and the images of the big-hands who took her away, and the Alexander big-hand who picked me up. His grip on me tightened, and I yelped. He immediately adjusted it, and ran somewhere. I crouched down in his hands, feeling nameless things swirl by me, and wailed.

_Alucard's POV:_

I crashed into Integra's office, and told her everything the kitten had showed me. I dumped it on her desk, and it mewed again, this time in pain. _"Side hurts! Where's large-cat-momma?"_ Integra stared at it. "Did that cat just-" I cut her off. "Zara's been kidnapped. Iscariot took her. The cat somehow gave me a mental image, and I recognized Anderson." Integra went white with rage. She grabbed the phone on her desk, speed-dialing and holding it to her ear. "Hello, Sir Islands? I just called to tell you that the Pazúry girl has been kidnapped. Yes, of course we suspect Maxwell, but he's still in Italy isn't he? Yes, I know you can't do anything without proof. I'll get right on that. Goodbye." She slammed the phone back on its receiver. She sighed, and I blinked.

"Alucard, we can't just go charging after her. People will not accept that our sole proof of her kidnappers is a cat, and a young kitten at that. " I felt a surge of anger. "Master, I can-" She cut me off. "I know what you can do perfectly well, so don't say it. The fact is, although Maxwell is the prime suspect, we can't just barge into one of his secret bases on the _chance_ that Zara might be there. She could be anywhere in the world." I wanted to argue, but deep down I knew she was right. "Fine." I said, seething. "What _do_ we do?" She rubbed her forehead, scowling.

"Look for clues in her room, ask our spies to scout around, everything we can do. She won't die a second time, I promise you." I nodded, heading for the door. "Alucard." She said, and I turned. "Yes master?" She was smoking a cigar, and gazing at me levelly. "You love her, don't you?" I froze. I could feel just a tiny hint of pink in my cheeks, and mentally cursed. "Master?" I asked, feigning confusion. She smirked, just a twitch of the lips really. "Are you denying it? I won't judge you." I took a deep breath. "Yes. I do." I said shortly, before turning and walking out the door. I heard her chuckle behind me, and wondered how on earth the conversation had turned to my relationship with Zara.

_Zara's POV:_

Seriously, is it like family reunion week in my head? I couldn't even be knocked out in peace. First and the others drifted before me, and I braced myself, getting ready to deliver my most impassioned tirade of all. _"You have been kidnapped."_ He said clearly, and I rolled my eyes. _Nothing gets by you does it? I would have __**never**__ figured that out on my own. Any other helpful bits of wisdom?_ He sighed, and surprisingly drifted away. _"I'm leaving you with some of our familiars. You'll need them. Other than that we will not interfere with you at all until you escape. You'll need a clear mind."_ I felt a slight thumping sensation in my chest, which calmed almost as soon as I was aware of it.

Suddenly the thought of being all on my lonesome seemed pretty scary. Sure, First was a huge jerk, but he was still technically on my side in all this. Going solo was really nerve-racking, especially when I had a vague idea of who kidnapped me. _WAIT! Aren't you guys going to stay and help? I can't do this by myself!_ I felt something breeze past me, and got the sensation they were all laughing at me. _"You will have your familiars, and the cat-boy! You won't be alone at all!"_ Oh, great. I have (no offense intended to my familiars) a bunch of animals and a dead German ghost to help me out. _Vhy aren't you vorried about offending me?_ Schrö's voice drifted up in my head. _Dead ghost is quite hurtful._ If I could've, I would have glared at him. _Because I don't like you._

Suddenly the images of my family began to fade, and I felt myself waking up. I fell off a couch, landing on the floor. I instantly adjusted, whipped out one of my knives, and got ready to have a real rough-and-tumble. Except that I wasn't. I looked around, feeling bewildered. I was in a living room, a perfectly ordinary living room, with a TV and everything. I had just missed a coffee table, and was kneeling on the rug that stretched all the way across the room. So far, so normal. I stood up, moving cautiously towards a door by the TV. It opened up into a bedroom, with a plain bed and bookcase filled with random books. No windows, here or the living room. I scowled, stepping into another door in the bedroom, to find myself in a small bathroom, also with no windows.

I looked in the cupboards, and saw normal female stuff, makeup and tampons and all that jazz. Tooth brushes here, hair brush there, toothpaste and floss, nail clippers, razor, everything was standard. I moved to another door, and that was a tichy little walk-in closet, complete with cloths in my size. I backtracked to the living room, and saw another door by the sofa, and stepped through there to find a tiny kitchen, one that actually had food and stuff when I looked in the cupboards. This room, big surprise, NO WINDOWS. I scratched my head. Either this was someone's poor idea of a joke, or I was still dreaming. Then I looked down by the counter.

Two shiny hypodermic needles, both filled with a strange clear liquid, lay on the flawless granite. A tiny screen was embedded in the counter, and there were words on it. _"Take your medicine."_ I glared at the message. I knew talking to a screen was stupid, but this is me. "Not until I know what it is. Where am I anyway?" The message disappeared, then a new one formed. _"Just something to help us keep track of you. You don't need to know where you are. You are here, and here you will stay."_ I grabbed one of the needles. "How long will I stay here?" I asked in a neutral tone. The screen changed again. _"Until we decide to let you go. There is no use trying to escape, we will find you."_

I suddenly threw the injection to the floor, holding my shoe over it in a clear threat. "Not if I smash this." The screen buzzed, then a new message appeared. _"You can smash it if you want. Look at your neck."_ I looked down, pulling the high collar of my shirt aside. A thin metal band encircled my neck, flashing with tiny lights. "YOU _COLLARED_ ME!? What the bloody hell?!" The screen hummed again. _"Language."_ I glared at it. "English. You have exactly two seconds to tell me what this does before I try to rip it away with a knife." The screen flickered. _"It will be better, and more amusing, to __**show**__ you."_ I was about to yell at it again when I felt a wave of electricity slam through my body, sending me crashing to the floor. My body was twisting in agony as the shock waves hit me again and again. I arched my spine, gasping as one final burst of electricity hit my body, then stilled.

I painfully sat up, using the counter as leverage. I dragged myself to me feet, feeling pounded. "You can shock me as much as you want, but I'm not sticking myself with those." I rasped, pulling my shirt back up so it covered my shock collar. The screen blinked, and I could swear I felt the mysterious typer's smugness from here. _"Then you will get no food from here until you do."_ I swore and launched myself at one of the cabinets, but all the food in it was gone. I closed the door, resting my head against the wood surface. "When I get out of here, I am going to make you pay six ways to Sunday. The only thing anyone will ever dare to say about your death about it is that it was too gruesome to describe."

The screen died, so I felt my threat was sufficient. At this point, I had three options. One, take the damn medicine. Two, ignore it and wait for starvation to set in. I chose three. The TV may have been rather small compared to the one at Hellsing Manor, but who cared? It had Ondemand. So I spent the rest of the time until I keeled over on the couch watching movies. I didn't forget I was a prisoner, or that I was trapped in a cage, or that I had two ominous needles on my counter, but I had a long memory and fertile imagination. Whoever kidnapped me was going to pay through the nose and how, I just had to get out.

_**Yes, it was Iscariot. Sorry if this doesn't really fit their image, but I needed bad guys, and I figured they would slide under that bill. Alucard finally admits it! Well, only to Integra. Zara still doesn't know. But he still admitted it! *Sigh* It gets even worse from here. I'm really sorry. But it was all my idea, and I like it. Again, feel free to say what you think she should do to Maxwell and the others. I still haven't figured out anything, although I may have the tickling of an idea…no it's gone. Dang. Oh well, maybe it'll come back to me. On the plus side, no more snow! On the downside, we replaced the snow, with POLLEN. I honestly prefer the snow, because it can't cause you to sneeze every two seconds and have snot dribbling down your front. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	17. Chapter 17

_**Okay, so I might skip a few months here and there if I need to. I've got a plan, don't worry. (I'm crazy, but it's a good plan, I promise) Sooo, I'm going to have this be mostly Zara for a while, purely because… just because. Mostly because anything anyone else will be saying/doing would be just filler. She's where the important stuff is right now! I may have longer spaces between my chapters, because I need to focus on my schoolwork because I've been neglecting it in favor of this story. (I can't wait for summer vacation) June sixth and I'm all free! Free until high school starts! *Gulp* Oh **__that's__** going to be fun. I hate middle school, so how much will I hate high school, where the grades will actually matter in your future? I'm just barely scraping the bottom with math as it is!**_

_Zara's POV:_

I stared at my newest medicine supply. Now, I knew I shouldn't be injecting that into myself. But, every day, for about two weeks after that first one, I had been. Sometimes it was a sludgy brown liquid, sometimes it was a neon yellow, or the plain old clear. This one was a bright and shiny red. I peered at it closely, and shook the needle a little. _Is it blood?_ I asked Schrö, who would know better than me. I felt his little cat-self rise to the surface of my mind, then sink again. _Nein. I don't know what it is. I've never seen anything like it in Doc's stores._ Now Schrö, despite his many, _many_ annoying traits, usually knew exactly what they were making me take. When he didn't, he could usually tell me what it did. Him not knowing or seeing it work before made me nervous.

I winced, and pushed it into my arm, which was dotted with tiny red pinpricks, like a swarm of mosquitoes had attacked me. I felt a slight throb in my arm, then nothing. _Any difference?_ I felt a queasy sensation as Schrö moved around. _Nein...I don't think so. Vith you, it's rather hard to tell, but your reproductively level may have spurted a little._ I sighed, rummaging around in the pantry for some Fruit Loops. I munched on them silently, then headed over to my bedroom. I stood in front of the mirror, peering at my reflection critically. I had bags under my eyes from my irregular schedule, which made me think I may have switched several time zones. I was skinny, and rather bony, because for the first few weeks I didn't use the needles, and they had to starve me into doing it.

My arms, as I said, were covered with puncture marks. I sighed and took a shower, scrubbing at my hands and arms repeatedly. _Roll call._ I said, feeling for my familiars, both borrowed and owned. _Mark is here._ I felt him stir in my mind, attracted by the running water. _Snap is here._ My little bat familiar snapped at me. He was named both for the sound of his wings and his temper. I had a hunch he belonged to that really mean light orb. _Hiss is here._ My cobra uncoiled within my mind, waving its head before retreating. I smirked to myself. If anyone so much as set foot in my room, they would be dead as dodos. My canines suddenly shot foreword, and I felt a drop of poison dangling at their tips. I mentally shooed the snake away, and felt my fangs withdraw. The poison fell to the enamel floor, burning a tiny hole in it.

_Ray is here._ I felt a burst of spastic energy as my hummingbird flickered to and fro in my mind. I really didn't see his use, but I supposed he would make a good getaway form. So it went, I had a whole bunch of familiars, some useful, some not, but all helpful in their own way. That was kinda the whole problem. If anyone, and I mean _anyone_, stepped foot in this room, I would be out in a flash. But no one ever did. My room had tiny vents, and those were the only outlets to the world. No windows or doors, locked or otherwise, hidden or in plain sight. It was like I was the only person in the world.

I staggered over to my bed, and fell on it, exhausted. I felt a tiny flicker in my mind, then darkness closed in around me. I woke up on a cliff, of all stupid places. It was a pretty nice cliff, as cliffs go. Pretty flowers, soft grass, nice view of the moon. But it was still a bloody _cliff_. I walked over to the edge, intending to jump off and go to a different dream, when a voice stopped me. "Zara? What are you doing?" I turned, seeing Alucard reclining a little bit away on the grass, apparently completely at ease. I frowned. He seemed different. More…oh, crap. He looked up at the moon, red eyes sparkling. "Beautiful night, isn't it?" I nodded, edging back towards the cliff so I could exit Stage Now.

He looked at me suddenly. "Come. Sit with me." He said, patting the ground beside him. I froze, wanting to get away, but not sure how to distract him so I could. He grinned invitingly, and I actually stepped forward a pace. _No, no, no, no, no!_ Schrö screamed in my mind. _Get away from there!_ I tried to go the way I wanted, but it was like I was set in reverse. Every time I tried to step back, I stepped forward, until I was a few meters away from Alucard. _I'm trying! What should I do!?_ Schrö shook his head violently. _I don't know! Try to move towards him or something! If you're really stuck in reverse it might work._ I stepped forward, but that didn't work the way I wanted it to.

"Come lover." He purred, yanking me down on top of him. I squirmed, feeling myself blush hotly when he called me that. _Now what!? Do something!_ Schrö paused, and I could feel his hesitation. _I can't! This isn't you mind!_ He said finally, and I felt confused. _What?_ He struggled against something, I could feel him doing it. _I don't know! I can't do anything if it's not in your mind! This is some sort of implanted hallucination or something!_ My mind raced. _This was probably what was in the syringe, wasn't it? But why would they want me to dream something like this?!_ He stopped, and I felt his exhaustion. _I don't know. Vait… you said that you vould have strong kids, right? Maybe this is their way of inducing you to breed. Seems stupid, but you are female._

I would have punched him, but since he was a ghost, and a regenerating one at that, it wouldn't have done me much good. _Shut up._ I realized that Alucard was talking, but I only paid attention for half a second before I knew I should be waking up right about now. He seemed to notice my inattention, and said "Are you alright?" The voice was right, the behavior was right, the _image_ was right, but I knew this was all a lie. "I'm worried about Alucard." I said, looking at the huge moon. "I'm right here." He said, pulling me closer and nibbling on my ear. I blushed red, glad Schrö had hightailed it. "Y-yeah I know. I'm just worried about him." He looked confused. "I'm right here." He repeated, sounding slightly angry. "I know. You said that already, and I never said you were wrong. I was talking about Alucard."

He growled. "Stop talking about me like I'm not here. _I'm _Alucard." I jerked away, managing to sit up. "No, you're not. Falls down on three counts. One, this is all a dream. Two, Alucard respects my personal space. But most importantly-" I bent down and whispered in the copy's ear. "-I'm not his _lover_, and he knows it." I stabbed it with one of my silver daggers, but I felt a churning in my gut when I saw him dissolve. Even dying, it still maintained Alucard's face and form. Schrö rose in my mind. _Vell done. I thought he had you._ I shuddered, rubbing my upper arms. _Perish the thought. I'm __**not**__ having kids, at least until I'm old._ _Even if_ _they somehow force a child on me, I still won't accept it._

I was suddenly catapulted awake, like someone had thrown me out of my dream. I staggered over to the screen, and said spitefully. "Your stupid hallucination failed. I spotted the fake as soon as it opened its mouth." The screen suddenly lit up. _"What makes you think we failed? We know he is your one big weakness."_ I rolled my eyes. "The only weakness I ever had is dead and buried. A weakness is usually weak, and I have yet to see anyone down Alucard for more than a few hours." The screen changed. _"You care for him. He is a weakness."_ I must admit, these people didn't take a hint. "No, he isn't. What is this leading up to? What do you WANT!? This is stupid and pointless!"

I certainly didn't expect an answer. In all truth, I expected to be collar-zapped. What I got was completely different. _ "You are the descendant of powerful ancestors. We can use your children for the power and righteousness of God and His crusades." _ I glared at the tiny flickering screen. "You people just admitted you were from the Vatican. Also, I'm not getting pregnant anytime soon, you can bet on that." The screen flickered out. I snorted at this and went to watch some TV. Five hours later, I was getting sleepy, but didn't dare to fall asleep. _Hiss, guard duty please._ He slid out of my arm and draped himself in an out-of-the-way corner, where he could see me and the whole room so it was impossible for them to try anything. _Tell me if you feel sleepy, or there are people , or if anything changes._

I felt his agreement, and drifted off into a dreamless black slumber. I woke up the next morning, feeling completely rested. I rolled over, seeing Hiss was back in my body. I sat up, making sure nothing had changed. Hiss assured me nothing was wrong, and I took him at his word. I slid out of bed, stumbling over to the kitchen, hoping that I would be spared the next dose of whatever they were giving me. No such luck, there was a vial of blackish-reddish liquid. "The heck?" I said, turning it over in my hands. _Schrö, what __**is**__ this?_ No answer. _Schrö? Schrödinger? SCHRÖ!_ Still nothing. _Warrant Officer Schrödinger, you better say something this instant or I will kill you repeatedly and painfully._

I waited hopefully, but he didn't say anything. I slammed the vial down, turning to the screen. "What did you do?" I growled through clenched teeth. It flickered to life. _"Nothing. What on earth are you talking about?"_ I waved the needle with its blackish colored red stuff around so the hidden cameras I knew were there could see it. "What is this stuff?" The screen went dead. I grabbed a bread-roller and held it above the screen carefully. "Tell me this instant or I smash the screen." It hurriedly flickered to life. _"A cleansing agent. We need to start over, or the accumulated injections will build up in your system and kill you."_ I glared at it suspiciously. "And why couldn't you just say that, I wonder?" I said musingly, looking closely at the liquid. The screen went dead again.

I wondered just what this stuff was. One thing I did know, I really, really, _really_ did not want it inside me. But what choice did I have? I didn't want to die. I started to move the needle towards my skin… then stopped. I couldn't do it. I knew something bad was in that syringe. If I didn't know what, why should I assume I would rather live than have it in me? So I did something very stupid. _First, I need you. What is this stuff?_ I waited, half-hoping he wouldn't show up, then sighed. No answer. I was alone. None of my animals could place the liquid, only that it had a bad smell. Schrö wasn't answering me, and I couldn't feel his presence at all.

_What should I do?_ I ran my hands through my hair, thinking. The liquid on the counter sloshed uninvitingly. _What would Schrö want me to do?_ He'd probably say to try it. _Integra?_ Nope, she'd leave it alone. _Techno and the others?_ They'd grab it themselves. _Alucard? _He'd say it wouldn't matter if he drank it. _Seras? _She'd squeak and run, avoiding it altogether._ Roger? _Also a big no-no. So, basically, most of the people I knew wouldn't have touched the needle at all, and thrown it in the garbage can instead. My hand crept out, reaching for the syringe. _I shouldn't do this, I shouldn't do this, I shouldn't do this, I shouldn't do this. _In one movement I grabbed the needle and plunged it into my arm. I felt a wave of shock as I watched the liquid drain into my arm. _WHAT HAVE I DONE!?_

_**That's it. Cliffhanger! Two chapters in one day, I'm impressed with myself. Das is gut. The blacky-red stuff is bad, very bad, no matter how you look at it. You won't be told what it is until later. No hints either. I'm being stubborn. NONE SHALL KNOW WHAT THE ICKY BLACK STUFF IS! Thank you. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	18. Chapter 18

_**I prostrate (which has nothing to do with prostitute or prostate, look it up if you don't believe me) myself at your collective feet and beg forgiveness! I was grounded temporarily because I didn't do my homework Wednesday, so I couldn't get this chapter out! Please don't be mad at me too much! People five months from now will be like "What's she talking about?" A lot of my forewords have something to do with being late, don't they? Again, deeply sorry. No before chapter info here and maybe I'll explain the black-red stuff if I'm in a good mood and as apology for not posting.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I heaved, gritty yellow bile streaming out my open mouth, and retched miserably into the toilet. I had woken up this morning with a pounding headache, and had already thrown up three times after what would normally be breakfast. I rinsed my mouth, praying that I wouldn't have another convulsion. _Stupid jerks, giving me unnecessary potions and gunk._ I staggered over to the couch, falling down on it carefully. I had a pot next to it in case of a spastic hurl, but I was getting pretty good at sensing them long enough to run to the bathroom. I moaned, flicking through the TV channels with my remote. I grabbed weakly for my cup, bringing it to my lips before realizing it was empty.

I dragged my protesting body over to the counter, where the screen was flickering urgently. I set the cup down directly on the screen, grabbing a water bottle and pouring it carefully. The screen hummed, and I ignored it until my…_collar_…started sparking faintly. I looked down blearily. _"Morning sickness?"_ I glared. "None of your damn business. I've just got food poisoning or some such." I walked out of the kitchen, sliding myself down onto the couch and sighing in relief. I waited, occasionally drinking water or napping, until I felt I could maybe take solid food again. I fixed myself some chicken noodle soup, and some fruit, taking it back over to the couch and eating in silence.

The screen's message had shaken me a little. Pregnancy was a sensitive issue for me, and I was a bit paranoid about it. The thought kept looping in my head, over and over again. _What if I really am pregnant?_ Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and wobbled to the bathroom to take a pregnancy test. I waited anxiously for the results, on edge, constantly fiddling with the towels or the medicine. _What if it's a positive? Whose kid would I be bearing!? How on earth will I tell Alucard and the others?_ Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the test gave a little bleep. I rushed over, and froze when I saw the sign.

–

A negative.

Thank god.

I let my breath out in a whoosh, unaware I had been holding it in. I felt a sense of infinite relief, and slid down the counter to huddle on the floor. The only coherent thought I could muster was _neener-neener-neener, I'm not pregnant!_ I felt a moment of alarm. _Wait, there's such thing as a false positive, right? What if I got a false negative!?_ My breathing and heartbeat suddenly shot way up. _Calm down, calm down, there's no proof of it being false. How do you know how these work anyway? Calm down. _I wished for a second I had Schrö. Incredibly annoying as he was, he was still a pretty good friend, if you wanted to count him that way.

But the last few weeks had been absolute silence on his front. Not a mind peep, no taunts, no jibes, no _"when the heck are we going to get out of here?"_, no nothing. In fact, yesterday morning, I had woken up to the absolute silence in my mind. I tried calling out to Mark. No answer. Hiss, Snap, Ray, everyone, were all silent, and if I was going to be honest with myself, gone. I was completely alone. I had never been alone in my life. Sure, when I was younger, I had my own bedroom, but then I always had half a dozen cats draped over my bed with me. When I was kidnapped by Millennium, I had Tetsab. Later, my brother. When they were both gone, my familiars. After I died, Soarece.

Now I was completely and utterly alone for the first time in my entire life and re-life. It was the first time I was the only one in my mind since I was six years old._ And I didn't like it._ Sure, having a whole bunch of animals in your head can be annoying at times, especially when most are male. Yes, my constant companion was a demon-monster-thing that wanted to eat literally _everything _when I was younger. And Schrö was _definitely _someone I didn't like sharing head-space with. But they always made me feel supported.

In many ways it was like having your own posse in your head, cheering you on and offering help. Schrö was getting to remind me of my brother more and more over the past few months, and even Snap seemed to have been warming up to me. _And then I took the reddish-black stuff._ Yep, now that I thought back, stupidest thing I ever did. I gloomily looked up at the door, wondering if I should go wave defeat in the screen people's face(s). I shrugged, slouching upright and staggering over to the bedroom, but I didn't get anywhere before I fell down, completely exhausted.

_3__rd__ Person POV:_

_ "Vhat the hell?"_ Schrö peered around, seeing nothing but empty blackness. _"Vhere did I end up this time?"_ He turned, seeing several light-orbs floating next to him. _"Who are you?"_ The nearest one drifted closer. _"The ancestors of the Pazúry. Why are you here?"_ Schrö thought for a moment. _"No clue. How do I get back into fraulien Zara's mind?"_ The orbs seemed confused by this. _"You are in her mind. This is her connection to the dead family members." _Schrö peered around, extremely interested until he remembered how he got there. _"Vait, fraulien Zara was injected with some sort of blackish-red stuff. The instant I saw it, I vas knocked out or something. What happened?"_

The orbs seemed to jolt in alarm and whispered together for a moment before answering. _"Why don't you go back and ask her yourself?" _Schrö shrugged, before trying to catch his waving tail. "_I've been trying. Every time I do I zone out and find myself back here."_ They seemed shocked, and moved away from him, clearly heading somewhere important. Schrö tagged along, until they came to a place full of floating orb-people, all gathered around one larger orb-man. _"What is it?"_ he asked, sounding interested. One of the other orbs gave a bow or a flicker, it was hard to tell, and said _"The hybrid sent to observe the Last is here, and can't get back to the conscious part of her mind." _ The one in charge dismissed this with a wave or another flicker, and said grandly _"This is the German "Everywhere and Nowhere" cat-boy? He just keeps getting himself lost, no doubt."_

Schrö spoke up. _"Vell sir, I blacked out vhen I saw the black-red stuff. Und vhen I try to get back, I black out again. I think they injected her vith something to keep me out."_ The one in charge guttered like a candle in a high wind. _"Check her system. If it's what I think it is…"_ Several dozen other light-orbs flickered away, and then slowly came back. _"Sir! This is impossible!" _One wailed, and the others joined in. _"She cannot have this inside her!" "He is an abomination!"_ Schrö watched with lively interest. _"Vhat's wrong with you people?"_ he asked cheerfully. The elder orb was still flickering madly. _"SILENCE!"_ the other orbs quieted down and he went on.

_"We cannot change what has happened. Is there any doubt at all?"_ He asked the orb who had spoken first wearily. It gutter-shook its head. _"None. You can recognize his foul aura instantly when you go out into her bloodstream. The damage is, naturally, irreparable. What is the First's decision?" _ The First seemed to pause, then shook his head. _"We will leave things as it is. Our decision to enhance her was a joint one, and we must all suffer the consequences now. We cannot work the magic to resurrect her more than once, so we must watch and wait." _Schrödinger yelped in indignation. _"Vhat's going on!?"_ First turned to him. _"You are not the only human-like creature in her mind now. I can only hope she survives. Her defenses are designed against an outside attack, not one from her own body."_

_Zara's POV:_

I came to after a couple hours, according to my little bed-clock. I cracked my neck a few times, stumbling over to the kitchen to get some food, as I was suddenly feeling much better. _Weird. Maybe First __**is**__ helping me out, just a little._ I looked at the counter in surprise, because there was no medication there at all. I shrugged it off and rustled about for a little bit, grabbing this and that, frying this, boiling that, until I had a nice dinner for myself. I sat down, glancing at the screen, then shrugging and starting to eat. About halfway through I was interrupted by an "Oh, this is nice. May I join you?" I shrieked, jumping up and seeing a man in old fashioned clothes standing by my table. I took less than a second, then I smashed into him, pinning him to the wall.

Except for one problem. He walked right through my grip, looking miffed. "That was hardly necessary. A "No, its mine" would have sufficed admirably." I stared blankly at him. "I just want to get out!" He chuckled. "Then you should ask the living for help my dear." I stared at him some more before my confused brain started working. "How come I have never seen a ghost around here before?" He shrugged, drifting over to my dinner table and sitting down. "Search me. You _are_ the first to notice me. The others never saw anything." My brain went into overdrive. "The others? How long have you been here? Why are you here? Shouldn't you be drifting around in Heaven/Hell, or whatever religion you were?" He held up his see-through and misty hands, looking annoyed.

"Not so many questions at once. I'll answer them in the order I can remember. Let's see… well, a bunch of people have been put in here recently, most of them with, and don't laugh, rather _catlike_ features. They stick around for a few months, then suddenly are carted off somewhere. I was one of the people who built this facility way back in the old days, when the Vatican was at the height of its power, so I've been around quite some time. I don't know _why_ I'm here, or why I didn't go to Heaven." I looked at him pleadingly, realizing Iscariot was probably listening to what I was saying and laughing their heads off.

He caught the look. "You've lasted much longer than the other people, so don't worry. I think you are actually the person they were preparing for. You wouldn't happen to be Zara Pazúry, would you?" I nodded. "Good. I don't know what their plans are exactly, but it isn't good. I _tried _to get you to not use that blood, but they never listen." I froze, my hands suddenly lengthening into claws that gripped the table so hard I saw cracks appear in the plastic. "You know what it is?" I said, my voice cracking with desperation. He nodded solemnly. "I know this seems odd, but ghosts can always tell what came from a body and what didn't. Blood is very easy for us to spot, even when it is mixed that that stuff was. Oh, you want to know what it is _exactly_? That's rather hard to tell. Blood mixed with something mixed with silver, mixed with holy water, and something else. The blood wasn't from a live human, if that comforts you."

I took a deep breath. "Yeah, thanks. Now, how do I…" I trialed off meaningfully, staring into his eyes. He frowned, stroking his nonexistent chin. "Hypothetically, you just break out. The walls and ceiling are all of the same thickness, except for the tunnel they use to transport furniture and suchlike in and out. It had to be rather big, so they put it behind the one place people never look." He paused dramatically, and I wanted to strangle him, ghost or no. "The kitchen cabinets. They're all fakes. You just shove the inside and they collapse." I would've hugged him, but he was a ghost. "Thanks. Do you mind?" he nodded. "Not at all. I meant this to be a sanctuary, not a prison. Please, leave whenever you like."

_Computer Readout's POV:_

**SUBJECT: Zara Pazúry**

**DAY: 48**

**TIME: 5:04 P.M.**

**TOPIC: Reaction to last Injection: **

**The subject, displaying unusual mental stimulation, acted up, seemly attacking the air for no reason during her evening meal. Shock collar use was debated, but aborted when it seemed to be holding a conversation with an apparition only it could see. It seemed to be under the impression that it was conversing with a ghost. During the conversation, several key points seemed to be debated, but thrown aside with no answer. Something seemed to shock the subject, and it reacted violently, cat nature momentarily surfacing before being waved aside. Adrenaline levels spiked during this brief space, but soon subsided. After subsiding, they spiked again, but much more subdued, and quickly faded. Subject seemed much more cheerful after something "ghost" said, humming and swaying around the kitchen as it washes it's dishes. Watch closely.**

**THEORY: **

**The subject may be having a severe mental breakdown due to last injection, as seen in subjects #47, #63, and #51. This theory is under debate, as subject seems to be very collected, as opposed to the other subjects' ravings. Theories proposing reaction to familiars, such as the Schrödinger spirit or it's animal spirits, are also in consideration. Subject's chemical readings have suddenly swerved again, but not as dramatic as the ones exhibited beforehand. (*See 2:38, 4:42) This may or may not be a direct result of the injection, as such swerves have been demonstrated before, to lesser extent. Decision to inform Archbishop Maxwell has been made, and the Paladin has been called over as extra security.**

_Zara's POV:_

I knew they were watching me, I would have to be an absolute dunce not to.It was like they were staring holes in the back of my head, paranoid little creeps that they were. Well, they weren't staring at _just _my head, they were watching my every movement like vultures waiting to pounce on a dying animal. I didn't have anything I wanted anywhere in the underground "house", because I had only come with what was on my back. I took a deep breath, savoring the dusty atmosphere of my prison. _Never coming here again, check and double check._ I knew that once I started on my escape plan, they would know exactly what I was up to. So here went nothing. I quickly pushed aside all the food in the biggest cabinet, yanking the shelves out as well before tearing into the plaster wall under it with my claws.

I felt energy slam through my body as they activated the shock collar, but I gritted my teeth and kept clawing my way to freedom. The pulses of energy were becoming more and more violent, as if they didn't really care how much they damaged me before I could escape. The plaster gave way like the fake stuff it was, and my nails hit solid metal. I cursed, because being a ghost, the architect couldn't really tell the difference between plaster and metal. Another shock came, and I set both hands on the metal, watching it hiss and bubble under them as I literally melted my way through. I remembered in a detached sort of way that I had survived a lightning bolt, so my electricity tolerance was surprisingly high. That and First's damned _enhancements._

They finally stopped sending it through my body, figuring it was just helping me escape. I grinned. _Too little too late._ My hands were already melted through, and I grabbed the metal, tearing it open. I managed to make a small hole big enough to squeeze through, and wiggled into it. I bit back a yelp of pain when a loose edge sliced my thigh, but managed to get all the way through. I landed with a splash into what must have been the dirtiest water in all Europe. I staggered upright, feeling the warm blood drip down my leg as I took my bearings. _Underground base located in a sewer. Points for originality._ I cocked my head, hearing shouts coming from all three of the other tunnels leading off from this dead end.

I swung upwards, hanging where I could watch anybody coming out from any three spots, before they could spot me or my blood, which was now gushing more than dripping. The one directly below me sprouted fruit first, a bunch of people with really nasty looking guns. I swung back to the ground, trying to run as fast as I could, as quietly as I could. I didn't hear any pursuit, so I figured I lost them for the time being.

Then a bullet ricocheted off the wall next to my head, and I ducked, running even faster now I didn't have to worry about being quiet. I felt a slash of pain across my back and stumbled, but kept going. I saw another intersection, but before I could decide which way to go I felt a boot connect solidly with the small of my back, sending my flying. I only had time to shriek and close my eyes, whipping into a fetal position before I hit the wall. I moaned, hearing splashing sounds like footsteps coming closer. I tried to get up, to run somewhere, but before I could do anything but get vertical two blades slammed down, transfixing my shoulders and pinning me to the floor. I whimpered, managing to lift my gaze, locking eyes with Anderson before sliding down into unconsciousness.

_Alucard's POV:_

I had spent the last few months shamelessly following Anderson, Maxwell, anyone from Iscariot I could, desperate for news of Zara. When I heard about Anderson being called to an "extra security" mission, my heart leaped. I knew it was Zara, it couldn't be anything else. He descended to the sewers of a Paris suburb. I could care less where it was, I only wanted to find Zara. Once I was down there I sniffed, trying to find her scent, but the rotting garbage and such obscured everything. I listened, and could hear faint gunshots. I phased there, recklessly jumping through walls, tracking things by sound alone. The tunnels did not help, with acoustics that bounced sound all over the place before reaching my ears.

Still, it was enough to hear the shriek, and the moan, coming from the tunnel ahead of me. I heard Zara whimper, and sped up, emerging just as I saw Anderson grab her throat, lifting her face up in a show of disgusted fascination. Two of his bayonets were pinning her body to the ground, going right through her shoulders before emerging and piercing the ground. I forgot everything once I saw the blood, and whipped the Casull out, firing several rounds into his hands. "You _dare_," I snarled, advancing on him. "You dare to touch her?" He growled, unsheathing his blades. "What of it vampire? We both know she's nothing more than a distraction for you. Give it a few years and you won't even remember her name." I roared with rage, firing round after round into his body, both from the Jackal and the Casull, making him stagger back from the sheer impact alone.

He answered in turn, and I was forced to move aside as the silver blades ricocheted in the close walls of the sewer tunnel. I could regenerate no matter what he did to me, but that took time, time he would put to full advantage, taking Zara farther away from me. I could not allow that to happen. I would not allow that to happen. I fired as much of the Jackal's bullets into him as I could, and finally the damage got to be too much and he retreated, backing farther down the tunnel as I advanced. I got him around a corner, then turned back to Zara.

I grabbed the blade in her left shoulder, wrenching it out and dropping the blade. I felt a sting of pain as one of the Paladin's blades hit my back. I turned and shot at Anderson more, and he was forced to get back under cover. I jerked the other blade out, dropping it from my slightly steaming hand and picked Zara up, running as fast as I could, away from the Iscariot forces. I could care less what they were doing to plan a counter attack. I could care less that Anderson was in the same city looking for revenge. The only thing that mattered to me at that moment was safe in my arms, curled up and pressed against my chest, softly humming.

_Zara's POV:_

I cracked my eyes open and sighed, figuring I might as well get up, but I was so comfy. They could punish me for trying to escape later. I closed them and turned over, dimly realizing I was covered with a red blanket. "Awake already?" a voice purred in my ear, and my eyes snapped open. Alucard was lying next to me, and a quick mental inventory showed his arm was around my shoulder, holding me close to his chest. "Not sure." I said slowly. "Are you the real Alucard who somehow managed to show up in the nick of time, or are you another delusion to punish me for trying to escape?" He smirked. "The real one. Are your shoulder wounds okay?" He asked, looking slightly alarmed.

I wiggled away from him and sat up, pulling my shirt to one side and wincing when I saw the holes, still oozing blood, although it had slowed to a trickle. "Not really." He sighed. "And here I was having a nice time resting." He got up, sliding out from under the blanket, which I now realized was his coat, and walking over to what looked like a refrigerator. To occupy myself, I looked around the room. It was rather small, with a tiny window and a fire escape, and a tiny kitchenette with a stove and everything. The bed I was laying in was occupying much of the available floor space, and it wasn't too hard to guess it's normal use. _Eww._ Alucard sat back down next to me, a bottle of something and some bandages in his hands. "Turn around." He said sternly.

I shrugged and turned, presenting my back to him. "Close your eyes." I closed them, wondering what on earth he was going to do. After a few seconds I felt fabric skim my shoulders and looked down, before squeaking and elbowing him in the stomach. My shoulders were now completely bare, my shirt having fallen to just short of my cleavage, along with my bra. He grabbed my hands and held on, waiting until I stopped wiggling until letting go. "These wounds go completely through both shoulders." He said, unscrewing the cap on the jar of medicine. He smoothed it carefully over the holes, being surprisingly gentle. "I can't have your clothes getting in the way."

I blushed. Telling myself it's just an enhancement feature is really hard when he's touching my shoulders. He stopped, then said "Turn around." Like an idiot, I complied. Then I realized he still had to do my front, and that was a lot worse than my back. He was just as careful as before, but that didn't help when his face was a foot from my own. His gaze was fixed on my wounded shoulder, a look of absolute concentration on it, and I blushed like crazy. _Just an enhancement feature, just an enhancement feature, ignore the impulse, ignore the impulse, IGNORE THE IMPULSE!_

Finally, the moment of torture was over, and he backed away, still staring at my wounds, now respectfully bandaged. I yanked my shirt back up, silently thanking that it was over. He handed me the jar, and I looked at it, confused. "For your leg." He clarified, jerking his gaze up to mine, then looking away. I shrugged, sitting down on the bed and pulling my pant leg up. I smeared the gunk over it, letting out a slow sigh of relief as the pain faded and vanished, and the bleeding slowed. I wrapped bandages around that too, hearing Alucard rustling around in the kitchenette.

_Alucard's POV:_

I ran my hands through my hair, leaning against the wall. I needed to think. Away from Zara's blood. Lying next to her all night had been torture, but I couldn't leave her alone in the bed, as every time I tried she started whimpering, tossing and turning around. I finally snapped and fixed the cut on her back, but couldn't bring myself to take care of the ones in her shoulders, and the slice on her leg. Both would mean having to take an item of clothing completely off, and that was crossing a line. Secretly pleasing as the idea was, her waking up half-naked next to me would definitely cause her to lose some, if not all, her trust for me, and I didn't want that at all.

_Why does her blood have to be so infuriatingly good!_ I half-closed my eyes, remembering every insignificant detail of that exquisite taste. _Lemony, with hints of spicy and sweet herbs, a slight aftertaste that reminded one of honey, that ever-present tang of copper that was the foundation of all blood-scent, deliciously warm as it pumped from her body straight into my mouth-_ "Hey Alucard?" My eyes snapped open to see her standing unsteadily on both legs. "Yes?" I asked hoarsely, swallowing and trying to rid my mind of her taste. She looked at me warily, then shrugged. "Where are we?" I looked blank for a moment, my mind still struggling to comprehend anything but her blood. "Oh, where are we? Somewhere in Paris, I believe."

She groaned, slamming her head into a wall. I was about to pull her away in alarm, when I heard her muttering "You have got to be kidding me, why this place again? I can still hear Soarece at nights, muttering French phrases in her sleep. What have I ever done to deserve this?" I chuckled. "You were here before?" I asked, slightly curious. She grinned. "Si vous avez traduit cela et ne le saviez pas français, vous êtes un idiot. " I grinned back. "How long did you stay here?" She slumped. "Don't remind me. Three weeks getting here from Italy, two extra weeks staying here, "learning the local tongue", as she put it. I think she was just staying for the clothes and stuff."

I shrugged. "Who knows. Now," I surveyed the view out the window grimly. "We get back home and decide what to do to Maxwell." She held out her hand expectantly. I looked at it, confused. She rolled her eyes. "High five me." I made an "Ah" sound, and did as she said. She grinned, tugging her collar up before stepping out of the little room I rented. I followed behind her like a ghost, watching anything and everything for threats against my little kitten.

_**I will not be saying what she said in French. It's a joke. If you can read French, than you're in on it. If you can't, you're not. Copy-paste-Google Translate or something. Oh yeah, about the stuff, it like hypnotized her into taking it or something. You know when you see something gross, and you do a double take? Like that, only it was a pick-me-up-and-inject-me take. I shall be explaining what it is eventually. Off topic, and I'm sure it's nothing, but where is drizzt? You haven't reviewed the last, *counts on fingers* ten chapters! Are you alright, or are you grounded like me? Or have you completely abandoned reading this story? Any option is fine, I'm just curious. I'm so excited to finish this! (don't judge, I have my reasons) I can't wait to get on to my Soul Eater fanfic! I've already written the first three chapters, and am working on the fourth. If you like my writing and want to read more of my stories, but haven't read or watched Soul Eater (heretics, shame on you), you really should because I'll be moving my main focus onto that, but also have my little fanficlet One-shots about this Hellsing series. It's available through Netflix(all episodes), YouTube (I think it has all of them, but you have to be 14 and over), and AnimeStatic (also all episodes). There may be others, but I don't know any of them. READ AND/OR WATCH SOUL EATER! Thank you. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	19. Chapter 19

_**Next chapter here." I fixed all my stuff, so now all I have to do is hang in there until summer vacation. Topic jump, at the end of the year we're going to ValleyFair. That means the Steel Venom, Power Tower, Wild Thing, Xtreme Swing, Renegade, Excalibur, Corkscrew, and the rest of them. I'm so pumped! If you've never heard of any of these rides, or even ValleyFair, I pity you. MOA and Nickelodeon Universe ain't got nothing on ValleyFair. It's AWESOME. Will I tell you what the black stuff was? Maybe. Will Schrö ever get back to Zara's mind? Possibly. Still working out what I'll do to Maxwell and the rest of them.**_

_Zara's POV:_

"Umm, bonjour?" I asked the man at the ticket booth. He glared at me, and Alucard tightened his grip on my shoulders. "Que voulez-vous?" He growled, glaring up at the both of us. _Friendly type._ Alucard took over in flawless French, ordering him to give us two tickets to England across the Channel. I leaned back, glad that Alucard knew how to deal with surly French ticket men. A few seconds later, the man was suspicously quiet, sitting in his chair with a disturbingly vague expression. As we walked up the gangplank, I whispered "You hypnotized him, didn't you?" Alucard grinned, casually whistling. "Now what on earth would give you that impression?" he asked innocently, putting his glasses back on. I poked him in the side. "Maybe it was the fact his eyes turned pink."

He cursed under his breath. "I need to figure out how to make that go away." He muttered, and I giggled. "I don't think you can. Otherwise how will normal people trust each other anymore? Anyone and everyone could be a vampire's hypno-slave." He raised his eyebrows. "I really need to figure out how to do that." He said, grinning. I poked him again. "No. Bad vampire. Don't even think about it." He smirked, bending down and kissing the corner of my mouth. "There. I didn't think about it at all. I just did it." I punched his shoulder, wiping my mouth in an exaggerated show of annoyance. "I meant don't think or do anything." He grinned again, leading me down to the cabin we would occupy. "You should have said that then. Otherwise I might use a loophole."

I scowled at his back. "How on earth did the Hellsings catch you?" I growled. He stopped, and I ran into his back. "Hey!" I said, backing away. "A little warning next time." He made a shushing motion with his hand, and I shut up. A voice ahead of us said "I know they boarded this ship, we just have to find them. Do not leave port until we have located them!" The captain's voice protested. "But sir, we do not have the man power, and the people have paid money to be transported as quickly as possible! We need the money from future customers. Our company is small and every ship-" The other voice cut him off. "That is of no concern. We will pay you three times what you gain from this voyage if we find them quickly." They walked away, boots thumping on the concrete floor.

Alucard hissed, clenching his hands. "We can't use any of the other ports; they've already been closed down by the Vatican. This is the last ship to be locked down." He said levelly, already looking forward to taking down several dozen Vatican operatives. "Where's your coffin?" I asked, thinking back to something I tried with Techno and the others in Panama. He looked at me, surprised. "I left it at the Hellsing Manor. Why?" I grinned. "We need to get to one of the lifeboats, pronto." He raised his eyebrows. "I assume you have a plan?" I gave him a thumbs up. "Yep. Show me where they are?"

_***Time Skip***_

"Okay, we made it." I said, leaning on the lifeboat and panting. Alucard waited for me to catch my breath before silently swinging it over the side, letting me jump in before he lowered it into the water. I waited on tenterhooks, expecting to be spotted any second. Luckily, they all seemed to be busy doing something else. Alucard landed with a thump next to me, cutting us free of the bigger ship and letting us drift away. "You want to row or should I?" I whispered, keeping my eyes trained on the ship lights. "I'll do it." He said through gritted teeth, obviously affected by all the running water around us. "Okay." I slid out of the oar-spot and let him row us away. We had almost lost sight of the ship when its alarms started up, and we heard shouting echo across the water.

"I wonder what's the matter with them?" I said innocently, flashing a grin at him. He smirked back. "Probably nothing. Maybe a passenger got lost?" I poked him in the chest. "Smarty-pants." He shrugged, still rowing us away. The only thing I was worried about now was speed-boats searching for us. "How long does it normally take to cross the Channel by row boat?" I said nervously, scanning the open sea on all sides of us. Alucard grunted. "At least eight hours, possibly a day." I groaned, putting my head in my hands. "Joy." We sat in silence; the only sound was the creaking of the oars and the shrieking of various seabirds circling over our boat and other places in the calm sea.

Several hours later, I drifted off to sleep, lulled by the rocking waves. I jerked awake a little bit later, hearing Alucard moan. He was slumped down, holding his head in his hands and panting. "Are you okay?" I asked in alarm. He shook his head. "So much running water…" he groaned, sounding exhausted. I scrambled over to him. "Hey, is there anything I can do?" I said, sitting down next to him and rubbing his back. He leaned on my shoulder, and I almost collapsed from the sudden increase in weight. "No. I just need to rest a little bit…" he said wearily, closing his eyes. So I let him lean on me and waited, watching the sun start to set in the water to the west of us.

When it got dark I shook him, trying to wake him up. He didn't wake up, in fact, he looked like he fell even more asleep. "Alucard, get up." I said, poking him in the chest gently with the point of a silver dagger. He didn't move. "Alucard?" I said, starting to get worried. No response. I looked down, worried that the boat was leaking or something, but it was still sound. _Calm down, he's probably exhausted from being as close to being in running water that is physically possible for a vampire for several hours. He'll be fine._ That didn't reassure me very much. "ALUCARD WAKE UP!" I shouted, pounding on his chest. No response. _Umm… oh, I got it._ I carefully slit my wrist, holding it close to his slightly open mouth. My blood trickled down his throat, and he stirred.

I sighed in relief, then squeaked as he wrapped his arms around my body, pinning my torso to him, still with my wrist above his mouth. I felt it throbbing, and I hissed in pain from the awkward position. His head bent forward and he attached his mouth to the cut, licking it and sucking the blood that still trickled out slowly. The flow slowed, then stopped, and I waited for him to let go and wake up, but instead I felt a nip directly on the cut, and looked down to see him still blissfully sucking my blood in his sleep. I scowled down at him, feeling slightly woozy from blood loss. I tried mentally screaming at him, but soon gave up. I let my head fall forward on his chest, exhausted from both blood loss and a very stressful day.

I looked at his face, and one eye blinked open, looking very sleepy. "Hmm?" He looked slightly surprised to see me laying on him with my wrist in his mouth. I smiled at him weakly. "About time." I slurred, my eyes almost closing by themselves. I wrenched them open, trying to stay awake. His free hand suddenly slid down my back, and I arched, too tired to even try to stop the response. "Stop…it…" I mumbled, relaxing even more as he stroked my back. He smirked. "I love you." He said in amusement, and I glared at him sleepily. "Wha…" I slurred, my mind struggling to work even in my exhausted state. His grin broadened. "I…" he said clearly. "love…" he let me slide my arm back to a more comfortable position. "…you." He pulled me close to him, cradling me in his lap, and rocking me.

I couldn't keep my eyes open anymore, and murmured sleepily as I closed them "You absolutely sure 'bout that?" He chuckled, and kissed the top of my head. "Very. Go to sleep." I managed to shake my head. "Don't wanna. I wanna stay here…" I patted the side of the boat weakly. He sighed, and shifted so I was lying on the bottom of the boat. "Better?" I couldn't respond, I was that tired. I tried to shake my head, but I felt like it weighed a million pounds. A soft blackness overwhelmed my senses, and I fell into sleep without a word.

_Alucard's POV:_

She relaxed in sleep, and I took a deep breath. _That was close._ The water around me was still an annoying blight on my senses, but it was no longer pulling me down into a eternity of sleep. I probably wouldn't have woken up at all if she hadn't bled herself for me. I smiled, remembering the sweet aroma that penetrated my fog, pulling me up out of it. _I shifted slightly, feeling something that I held close to my chest. I held something in my mouth, from which the delicious liquid was pouring. I felt a trace of annoyance when it stopped, nibbling at the wound, enticing more blood out, feeling it slide down my throat, still warm from the person's body. I heard a screaming sound, but it was far away compared to the taste I was currently savoring. It slowly stopped, and I half-opened my eyes._

I remembered the shock I felt when I realized Zara was sprawled on top of me. Most likely she had tried to wake me up, and in my sleep I pinned her down, like I would normally for a prey animal. I had her wrist in my mouth, the blood having stopped shortly after I opened my eyes. I bent down, arranging her more comfortably, hoping she would have a better sleep. I knew the dark circles under her eyes weren't caused by beatings, rather from lack of sleep. They certainly looked like she had been punched in the face, they were that dark. _My poor little kitten._

I gathered my bearings, watching the stars and testing the current with my oar. I started off, rowing as straight as I could towards London, watching her sleep, and wondering how long her blood would keep me going. She turned over, thunking her head against the side of the boat. I heard her mutter something, then she said clearly "Alucard." I raised my eyebrows, bending down and placing a hand on her forehead. I was rushed with sound and images. _Pounding feet. "My lungs hurt, I can't do this much longer"! I turned, seeing Zara dart in front of me, clearly running for her life. A dark shape flitted around in the scrub behind her, moving much faster than a human could._

"_What should I do? Someone help me"! I saw her put a hand to her side and cry out in pain, tumbling to the ground as she curled up in a fetal position. She twisted, convulsing and writhing in pain. The shadowy shape stepped out of the trees, but I couldn't see who it was. I tried moving, but I was frozen in place. "Why do I hurt so much? Please, someone help me!" The shape moved closer, clearly enjoying her pain. Tears streamed down her face, and she was whimpering, holding her stomach and crying in pain. The shape was right above her now, and it held a sharp bayonet-like object._

_ She rolled away from them, trying to get away, but they stepped on her leg, holding her down. It raised it's blade, and she moaned, still trying to escape. It brought the blade down, and time seemed to slow as I saw it head straight for her unprotected neck. I heard her scream my name, "ALUCARD!"_ _before everything went black._ I quickly moved my hand away, backing up and rowing as she stirred, then turned back over. I growled, silently cursing the Paladin and Maxwell for giving her more nightmares. She had just managed to stop having ones about Millennium too. These thoughts occupied me for several hours, so it was a shock when the sun came over the horizon. I winced, glaring at the beams of light illuminating the dawn.

Zara stirred again, rolling over so far she came to rest against my feet, I blinked, looking down at her sleeping form. She curled around my legs, softly humming, and smiled slightly in her sleep. I rolled my eyes, somewhat annoyed by her cat-like instincts, which seemed to be still in effect. "Wake up." I said, gently shaking her shoulder. She growled in her sleep and curled tighter around my legs, batting my hand away with her own, the nails of which had grown slightly longer. "Lemme 'lone." She muttered, still asleep. I pinched the bridge of my nose. _Teenagers._ "We're here." I said loudly, hoping to wake her up. No response, except a sleepy growl. "Let go of my legs." I said, trying to reason with her. Mumble, mumble. I gritted my teeth and splashed water on her, soaking her face and hair. She yelped and sat up, spluttering.

"Alucard! What the hell!?" I grinned at her, freeing my legs. "You wouldn't wake up, and I need my legs to help me row." She rolled her eyes, wiping her face off and wringing out her hair. "Jerk." I shrugged, smirking. She glared at me, then her face softened. "Are we there yet?" she asked, folding her arms and leaning back. I looked up. "No, we'll have at least a couple hours before we spot land and I can phase there." She sighed, shaking her head. "Can I help, or will I be slowing you down?" I considered this for a moment. "I could use a break." I said, sliding out of my spot and letting her take over. She took over, obviously used to rowing, and set off. "A little to port." I called out, watching her with urban amusement. She glared at me, adjusting her course. "I thought you were taking a break?" she growled, pulling on the oars in perfect time. I grinned at her lazily. "I am. I'm also directing." She sighed. _This is going to be fun._

_Zara's POV:_

Truth be told, I was glad I had something to do. That kept my mind away from the whole "Alucard just told me he loves me", and the nightmares. "A little to starboard." He said, watching me with a wicked twinkle in his eye. I shook my head. "You said a little to port, and now you're saying it's the other way?" He grinned widely. "You went too far to port. You need to go the other way a little." I scowled, moving the boat over. He looked along its length, then nodded to himself. "Excellent. Now-" I cut him off. "Oh no you don't. You said this way and I'm staying this way.

He scowled, folding his arms. "Pouting teenager doesn't suit you." I informed him, yanking on the oars. He glared at me, and I stifled a giggle. "What?" he said frostily. I let go of the oars for a moment and imitated him, sticking out my lower lip for emphasis. "This position doesn't suit you." I said, trying very hard not to burst into laughter. He growled and I went back to rowing, shaking with my attempts to hold back laughter. "Wise people" Alucard informed the air, casting his voice in my direction. "Do not make fun of vampires." I shrugged. "Whoever said I was smart?" I said playfully. He sighed, putting his head in his hands. "What have I done to deserve this?" he asked them, and I burst out laughing. He looked at me, slightly annoyed. "What?"

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "Shouldn't I be the one asking that? Let's see now, I've been shot three times, fallen off a cliff, been struck by lightning, kidnapped twice, blown up, attacked by a shark, been brainwashed, and that was all _after_ I met you." He blinked. "Well yes. Now that you mention it, you have been rather set upon in the last few years." I nodded. "So don't you _dare_ say "What have I done to deserve this" in front of _me_." He grinned, and suddenly I was sprawled on the floor of the boat, with him directly on top of me. "What the hell are you doing?" I spat, wiggling.

He smirked down at me. "Attempting to make things up to you." He said, and I blinked, confused. Then his lips crashed down on my own, and I lost power of coherent thought. Sure, not the most original lines. Yes, lying down on the deck of a lifeboat with an oar and a bench digging into you is not the most comfortable position. But Alucard seemed to ignore all that, and I certainly didn't notice after the first few seconds. His arm snaked around my back, pulling me up to deepen the kiss, which also came with the pleasant bonus of being lifted away from the poky bench. He gently nibbled my lower lip, but I pressed my mouth shut, wanting him to work for it.

He massaged my back with his hand, and I jerked, pressing into him, still being stubborn and not opening my mouth. His other hand wrapped around my waist, pulling me so close there wasn't any room between our bodies at all. I squirmed, not wanting to give in. The last straw came when he moaned pleadingly, and I finally opened my mouth, letting him enter. He licked my tongue with his own, curling around it and yanking. I growled, shoving back at him playfully. His tongue elongated, and I experienced a moment of frustration. _No fair!_ I mentally shouted at him, and he grinned. _I don't play fair._ He yanked my tongue into his mouth, and I gulped.

He seemed content for the moment, but when I tried to pull back he clamped his teeth down, preventing me from getting it back. Out of curiosity, I ran it along his teeth, and was interested to note all of them, not just his canines, were pointed to some extent. _No wonder ghouls always have such graphic wounds. This would seriously hurt if he bit down._ I realized his grip on my body had tightened, and he was shifting on top of me, obviously in conflict about something. _You okay?_ I asked him in concern. He half-opened his eyes, looking at me. _You really do not want to know how bad I want to turn you right now._ I blinked. _Should I be concerned?_ He closed his eyes, and surprisingly jerked away. "Not really." He said, pulling me upright. I sighed, and grabbed the oars again.

I started rowing, unconsciously licking my lips, still tasting him on me. He squinted, and then pointed behind me. "Finally. Look, there's land." I turned, seeing a dark smudge on the horizon. "Think you can phase there from here? He closed his eyes, then frowned. "No. If we get closer, maybe, but right now there's too much water between here and land." I rowed even harder, until a few minutes later I hissed, holding my hand against my chest. One of my blisters had broken and blood was oozing out, along with a clear icky liquid. Alucard grabbed my hand before I could do anything, bringing it to his mouth before stopping and looked at me for permission. I nodded, and he brought it to his lips.

His eyes never left mine as he licked the blister, kissing the wound like he had kissed me a few minutes before. I sighed as the throbbing pain stopped, and an icy coolness spread out from his lips, making my hand grow numb in a matter of seconds. He let go, licking his lips as I inspected it, seeing nothing but a faint pink mark. I started rowing again, but broke the silence and said musingly. "You know, you could sell that stuff. People would pay millions of dollars for healing vampire spit." He looked startled. "Why on earth would I want to make money?" he said, looking confused. "I can always get what I want by hypnotizing people or stealing things."

I rolled my eyes. "That's morally unsound. And rather selfish." He chuckled. "I _am_ a vampire. I define those words." I glared at him, then rubbed the back of my neck. "This may be a sensitive topic for you, but I've always wanted to know, why is your name Dracula backwards? And why is the Hellsing name spelled just like the one from Bram Stoker's book?" He froze, and I snapped my mouth shut, not wanting to aggravate him more. "Are you sure you really want to know the answer to that?" he asked softly, somehow projecting more menace than I had ever seen him do before. I nodded. "Yes, I do. I have to know." I said, avoiding his gaze.

_**I'm still thinking on what they should do to Maxwell. Possibilities… not coming to me. If you haven't realized his name is Dracula backwards, kudos to you, you have officially out-unobservanted me. Still no word from Schrö or what the black stuff is, because I realized I would need to get them back to London before I can properly freak them out. Knowing you people, you'll formulate some wild guesses, (which I would love to hear by the way) and rant about why you have the right idea. This is the longest I have managed not to give any hints. My fingers are itching to write it all out for you, but I must resist. *wrestles with fingers, yanking them away from keyboard* MUST TELL! Okay, I'll make this quick, R, R, Rcomment! Auf Wedersien! **_


	20. Chapter 20

_**It's Mother's Day! What did you get your mom? A card, a treat, a gift? Me, I got mine a Resident Evil Wii game. Despite the fact she squealed loud enough to shatter half the window panes in the house upon receiving it, I don't regret getting it. Why? Because from then until now she has not gotten off the TV, and even came over to the computer to Google for a cheat to get past a boss. No nagging for homework? Check. No pressure to be productive? Double check. People, I have made a discovery rivaling **__**E**____**mc**__**2**__**. If you want your mom to leave you alone all day, bribe her with a video game version of her favorite movie series. IT WORKS. No thanks necessary, this was just a Public Service Announcement. (It also works if you're in huge trouble for something) For those of you who haven't read Dracula, or seen any of the movies, those were two girls he attempted to turn. Well, he got Lucy. Mina didn't turn before he was killed, or captured, if you want the Hellsing POV.**_

_Zara's POV:_

He took a deep breath, even though he didn't seem to need it. "As you already know, I am not an ordinary vampire." He said, staring off into space. He avoided my gaze, and I pressed my lips together. _Let him explain in his own time_. I mentally told myself."I am over five hundred years old, and I was born, created, whatever you want to call it, in Romania. I led my people against the Turks, but was eventually defeated. You don't need me to tell you what I was called." He made eye contact, and then looked away. "Vlad the Impaler." I said softly. He winced, but smiled faintly at the name, still proud of the title he bore. "Yes. Eventually I was defeated, and marked for execution. I became a vampire. You don't need to know the details."

I frowned. _Why not! I want to know!_ He continued, oblivious to my thoughts. "I lived in my home country for a while, but then I wanted more. I decided to go to England." He smiled wryly, and said "I still don't know if I regret or rejoice that day, that decision." I watched him, wondering what this was all leading up to. "Knowing you, you've already read the book _Dracula_, so I don't need to tell you what happened after that." I nodded slowly. Then my mouth opened and the two questions I really didn't want to ask came out. "Mina? Lucy?" We both cringed. _Oops._ "Umm, sorry." I said, blushing. "Just slipped out. You don't have to answer." He shook his head. "I owe you the truth."

I waited, somehow not wanting to hear the answer, but practically falling out of my seat trying to hear it. "Lucy was…a trap. A taunt. I knew it would hurt them to see her turned." He said, looking down at his feet. "Mina… Mina wasn't." he pressed his lips together, obviously not comfortable with the story. I wanted to spare him as much as I could, since I was obviously making him remember things probably best kept in the past. "You loved her?" I said quietly, somehow making the statement a question. He nodded. I gulped. _Double oops. If I remember the story correctly, that didn't turn out well at all._ He looked back up at me. I looked away, shifting uncomfortably. "Sorry." I whispered.

_That's the most I can tell him? Sorry? Sorry is just about the stupidest thing you could say to him._ He smirked, just a little. "I did love her. But I don't anymore." He said, and I whipped around, startled. He certainly looked serious enough, except for that infuriating little smirk of his. He reached out, placing his hand on top of mine. His eye burned into mine, and I wanted to back away, but it felt like I was glued to the seat. His face was inches from mine, and I could feel his breath on my lips, even though he didn't have any at all. "Alucard, I…" my voice trailed off, because I couldn't think of anything else to say.

"Zara" He said quietly, deliberately. The corner of his mouth lifted up in a tiny smile. "I love _you._" He gently pressed his lips to mine, not as passionately as he had before, but with more meaning. Before I could do anything but register the fact, he stopped, and wrapped his arms around me. I sat there, accepting his embrace, but my mind was spinning. _But…_ I licked my lips, before hoarsely whispering "Alucard…I can't… I'm not ready…" He pulled back, and I was surprised to see him smiling. "I know. I can wait." I managed a tiny smile. "Pedophile." He looked shocked. "Excuse me!?" I poked his chest. "You're hitting on a girl more than five hundred years younger than you. Shame." We both laughed, and I felt much better.

_First's POV:_

_How can it be working so quickly?_ I drifted back and forth, anxiously checking on all of the Last's body functions. It resisted, not meant for interference. _We designed it that way…_ But the conclusion was increasingly negative. _How on earth did they manage to get this much!?_ I winced. _She is going to be very unhappy._ But it wasn't our fault! She had injected it; she would be the one to bear the consequences. By the time the cat-boy had gotten word to us, it was already too far into her bloodstream to halt. We couldn't stop it. _"Vhat's wrong vith you?" _Speak of the devil. _"I'm vill be able to get back into her soon! This is good, ya?"_ I clenched my fist. "No, that is bad. The longer you stay here, the longer it stays in _her_ bloodstream." He danced around me, confused. _"Vhere vould it go? She ist the only one here."_

I growled. "Look closer." My sense of him faded a little, then he popped back. _"Again, vhat's vrong vith that? That is vhat you vanted her to do, ya?"_ I swung wildly at him, but missed. "Not like this! Look and see, she is almost certain not to survive _that_." He looked, then grudgingly admitted. _"Vell ya, that's a lot to handle. But this is her, fraulien Zara can take on anything!" _He gave me a thumbs up, looking confident. I put my head in my hands."She won't be able to handle this, I can tell you. Even without _him_ complicating things, this sort of thing wouldn't be easy on her. Much as I hate to admit it, she's still only a child."

He blanked out, happily staring off into space. "Butterfly…" he slurred, drooling a little. Obviously he had used up his attention for the day. "Go away." I said wearily, making shooing motions with my hands. He jerked, then drifted away, still smiling blissfully. _Fool. I wish my worries were just as distant as his._ It was time to pay Last a visit, and I could only pray she listened to me long enough for me to get my point across.

_Zara's POV:_

I rolled over, trying to find a comfy spot on the car Alucard, umm, we'll say _borrowed_, to get us to London. I drifted back to sleep, ignoring the belt buckle and car seat digging into my hip. I heard a voice, and instinctively backed up, but relaxed a little when I realized it was Schrö. I didn't have time to berate him or anything before he slammed into me. _Fraulein Zara! I missed you!_ He squeezed me tightly across the neck, and I tried wrenching him off. He fell to the ground, looking up at me like an adoring puppy. I hate puppies.

_WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU!? _I mentally screamed at him, trying very hard not to kick him or do anything lasting. _First you just skip off, then all my familiars are gone, and you have nothing to say for yourself!?_ He shook his head, dumbly grinning up at me. My least favorite ancestor appeared in front of me, and I glared at him. _What do you want?_ He sighed, and actually tried being polite. _I have something to tell you._ I took a deep breath. Politeness dictated more politeness in return._ Fine. You have five seconds to try and run my life the way you want it, and then I'm out of here._

He sighed again, then started. _You are aware of the substance last injected into your system? _Time froze. The moment stretched on and on, and I had a feeling when it ended, my world would end too. _The thick blackish-red stuff?_ He nodded. _Do you know what it was?_ I shook my head dumbly. He paused, like he didn't want to pass the information on. Before I could yell at him, he spoke up again. _It was the vampire Alucard's blood. His shadow-creations, and his blood, mixed with silver and holy water._ I trembled in every limb, the enormity of what I did crashing down on me. _Y-your l-lying…h-he never b-bled anywhere t-they could p-pick it up._

First shook his head. _I don't know how they got a hold of it, but they did._ I swallowed hard. _So I'm gonna have test-tube-_ He cut me off. _Your children will be just as much his as if he had…conceived them… normally with you. You will mother his children. _I wanted to cry. _But I'm just a teenager, I'm not ready to be a mom, I can't do this! Please, stop it!_ He looked, felt, _seemed_, like he had aged a thousand years. _We can't. Your pregnancy is already too far along for us to do anything but monitor you._ I gaped at him. _But… but I haven't shown any of the signs, my stomach's the same size and I got a negative and-_ He cut me off. _You won't show any of the normal human signs. You're part cat, remember?_

I was so confused, but I took a deep breath, willing myself to be calm._ Fine, so I'm pregnant. Explain every detail to me right now, or I will hurt you._ He looked seriously alarmed, but stood his ground and started talking. _It won't be an easy birth. Right now, we count at least three young, with several more coming. It will be a long and painful labor, but hopefully worth it. _Inwardly I winced, but kept my poker face. _As you already know, there won't be any sign of it until you physically start your labor period, because we wanted to keep your young safe during the gestation period._ I clenched my teeth. _Lucky me._

He continued. _If the birth is successful, your young with have at least one catlike feature, but the vampire's genes may also surface. I won't have any help for you concerning the care of your young, because we honestly don't know how they will turn out. Basically, you will remain normal, physically, and most likely mentally, until your labor starts, which could be anything from several months to a few weeks. Your young will be born, and again, the birth won't be easy on you or them, and you will hopefully all survive. We may not approve of their father, but they __**will**__ be part of the Pazúry clan. We have no grudge against the young and weak._ I breathed a sigh of relief. Schrö popped up next to me, looking extremely bored. _"Are you two done yet?"_ He moaned theatrically, and First winced. _Take him away, I'm begging you._ He said, pointing to Schrö.

I grinned. _With displeasure._ I grabbed his shoulder and tried to wake up, and felt a surge or awareness. I blinked my eyes open, seeing the familiar ceiling of my room, and a tiny wet nose poking at my face. _Large-cat-momma up now?_ Mewed the tiny black kitten I had found a few weeks ago, before Iscariot kidnapped me. I sat up, pushing him off me. I spotted a note on my bedtable and picked it up, raising one eyebrow as I read it. _"Kitten, I put you in your room around one, because I didn't want to wake you. Everyone is thrilled that you're back, and Techno hasn't even destroyed or marked your stuff yet. Integra insists on meeting you in private, and says I won't be hearing the details of your talk with me either. Please tell me all about it when you get back. –Alucard"_

I scowled at the first word. _KITTEN!? Oh that is the last straw._ I slammed the note down on the table, muttering about vampires who made up ridiculous nicknames for people who were neither with them nor interested in a relationship. Then my face went white and I collapsed on the bed, holding my head in my hands. _Oh god, how am I going to be able to tell him? "Excuse me, Alucard? Yeah, I am going to be bearing your kids, but don't worry, I'm still a virgin!" That'll go over about as well as asking for a permanent dirt nap._

_**Aww, First does care for her just a teeny weeny little bit. I finally explained what the icky red-black stuff is! Do you all hate me? Probably, but I don't really care. Yes, she will have more than three kids. Will they all make it? I'm telling you right now, no. No they will not. You **__do__** hate me! Don't deny it! Well, I know for sure that if I want to, I can make her die a horrible death as well. Then I can make her come back as a clam! Alucard will be in love with a clam! You should be happy I'm only killing **__some __**of her kids! I sound like a serial killer don't I? Oh well. I got a new review person! Hi **__**VengeTheWolf! Welcome to the reviewers circle! We have xVentressx, flameslavier, drizzt (who may or may not be reviewing anymore), flamealchemist103, and several other people if you count my last Fanfiction. Keep it up! I like input! If you want to tell me I suck, go ahead! I don't really care! (constructive criticism is the best) REVIEW. Thank you. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	21. Chapter 21

_**Okay, something's definitely going daffy with the system. It only just now showed a review I got two days ago. Does this happen to you people? This is very important, because if I ask you guys something and it takes that long for the system to recognize the review, I won't be able to register it in time to include it with the story! Please respond. I've (obviously) never been pregnant, and I had to do a whole boatload of research just to get to this point, so forgive me if anything seems unrealistic. Also, she's a hybrid between two species, so I can just blame unconformities on that, right?**_

_Zara's POV:_

I walked into Integra's office, feeling nervous. She was seated behind her desk, looking grim. "You wanted to talk?" I said quietly, wanting to get this over with. She nodded. "Sit down Zara." I sat. When Integra calls you for a meeting that even Alucard isn't allowed to eavesdrop on, you do what she says. "You are aware of Alucard's affections for you?" She said, making a steeple with her hands and leaning back. I blushed. _Whoever is in charge of the world hates me today._ "Y-yes." I said, blushing harder. She almost smirked, but the expression was gone so fast I couldn't see if she did. "You know you are already a prominent target for our enemies?" She said.

I nodded. _Okay, what is going on?_ She sighed. "You're not stupid, so you know that his attention makes you an even more tempting target for such kidnappings. You're a young girl, and a teenager, and you know where this is going." I blushed, silently cursing any sort of deity I could think of, because they were all probably laughing and pointing at me right now. "Y-yeah, but you don't have to give me The Talk. I k-know I'll…umm, get p-p-pregnant if I do anything." I blushed so red they could have used me as a beacon to signal passing ships. She sighed again. "No, that isn't what I was going to do, but I was thinking of it. I've authorized Alucard to guard you. If he wants to keep you safe, he has permission to do anything sort of chaining you to his coffin."

This took a moment to sink in. "WHAT!? But he'll never let me do anything! I want to _do_ stuff, before-" I clamped my lips shut. _Please not notice anything, please not notice anything, please-_ "Before what?" she said sharply, fixing me with an unflinching glare. I gulped. "Please don't tell Alucard?" I said meekly, and she nodded cautiously. "I'M PREGNANT!" I blurted out, my face turning red again. She gaped at me, cigar falling from her fingers. "You're-" Oh god, she was actually stuttering. "WHO?" she demanded, slamming her hand down on her desk. "WHICH BLOODY BASTARD DID IT TO YOU?! BY GOD, IF IT WAS MAXWELL I'LL-" I waved my hands at her, trying to get her to be quiet before Alucard or Seras heard us. "SHHH! Okay, technically it wasn't anyone."

She glared at my, fingers twitching like she was itching to go out and shoot Maxwell anyway. "Explain." She said clenching her jaw. I took a deep breath. "Okay, so somehow or another, they got a hold of Alucard's blood, and some of his shadow stuff, and mixed it all together with some silver and holy water, and made me inject it into myself." The wheels in her head were churning at breakneck speed now. "So you're…oh my god." She fell back in her chair, blank shock etched across her features. "Yeah," I said into the silence. "I'm gonna have his kids." She jolted upright.

"_Kids_? Plural?" she said incredulously. I winced. "Right now my annoying spiritual ancestor says at least three, with more on the way." She winced as well. "How far along are you?" I shrugged helplessly. "Dunno. He didn't say. He also said it could take anywhere from a couple months to a few weeks before I start to go into labor." She facepalmed. "I'll schedule an ultrasound. We need to see exactly how far along you are. You do know that this won't be easy for you? Underage pregnancy is a serious health threat." I facepalmed as well. "This I know. But please don't tell Alucard? He'll go bananas." This was a Hellsing joke, dating all the way back to the time I stuck Techno in a pink monkey suit. She smirked. "I won't. But you're on your own after that."

_***Time Skip***_

I sat on the cold steel bench in my flimsy paper hospital gown. The doctor rustled about in her lab coat, tinkering with her computer. She looked at me disapprovingly, then went back to typing. She sighed. "Dear, your generation is one that never thinks past its own pleasure." I blinked. She gestured violently at the computer, then shoved her chair away. "For the sake of a few moments' pleasure, your life is going to take a rather sharp nose dive from now on." She pointed to the screen. I stared at the moving lumps. "I'm sorry, but can you explain a bit better?" I said sheepishly. She growled, pacing the room in agitation. She jabbed a finger at me. "Girl, you are going to have _five, __**five**__, _children at one birth. Do you know how much even a normal birth would harm someone of your age? Not to mention the babies'."

I gaped at her. _FIVE!? THREE WAS BAD ENOUGH!_ She wasn't done dropping bombshells yet. "If I was a betting person, which I'm not, I'd say your survival rate is one in two." I whimpered, my hands knotting in the fabric of my gown. She laid a hand on top of mine. "Is your significant other aware of your condition?" she asked softly, eyes sympathetic. I shook my head. "I-I, I haven't told him yet." She nodded knowingly. "If he will care, you should. I've seen some men abandon their lovers when they find out about their pregnancy." I shook my head violently. "NO! He wouldn't…he just won't understand…he'll blame himself…" I stuttered to a halt.

She rolled her eyes. "Just trying to help. Other than that, you're in the peak of health, although you will want to eat more than usual to provide nourishment for your babies." I nodded, my heart pounding at a hundred times its normal pace. _Oh god, I'm going to be a freaking MOM. What if I screw up and my kids turn out to be crazy unbalanced homicidal maniacs!? I mean, look at their father!_ I took a deep shuddering breath as I changed back into my normal clothes, already trying to fit my life around this huge obstacle. _Problem number One, I have no idea what to do as a pregnant person. Problem number Two, I'm going to have five babies and I'm underage. Problem number Three, Alucard's going to flip when he finds out._

I hailed a cab, starting to see a way out of this situation. _Solution one, I do a heck of a lot of online research and question First thoroughly. Solution two, I try to be in as fit and healthy a physical condition as humanly (or me) possible. Solution three… I have no clue._ I wanted Alucard to hear this from me and me alone, and telling anyone might give him the chance to read the answer in their minds. Schrö popped in his bit. _You know, you should just focus on getting ready. You've got weeks, there will be time to tell him vhenever you're both ready._ I blinked. _Schrö, you just said something sensible. I think I'm rubbing off on you._

He grinned. _Or maybe I'm rubbing off on you. Maybe what I just said was completely and utterly stupid und you are just going along vith it because you're desperate._ I winced. _Don't say that…_ He disappeared, and I leaned back in my seat. My stomach rumbled, and I glared at it. _I just ate before I left… oh yeah, I'm providing for FIVE other people on my body now. Silly me. _I got out as the cab stopped, tipping the man and heading back to the Hellsing Mansion. When I got inside I stopped, then ran for the kitchen. I scarfed down a bowl of cereal, some chicken noodle soup, a pear, some ham, and a sandwich before I felt normal again. I sighed, feeling both very satisfied and very alarmed. _How will I be able to hide my violent hunger pangs from everybody here?_

_Alucard's POV:_

I phased into Zara's room, seeing her munching on an apple and dangling a string in front of the little kitten. "Hungry are we?" I purred, laughing when she shot me a glare. She mumbled around the bits of apple in her mouth "It's a snack. I'm just a bit peckish." I sat down next to her, poking her side good-naturedly. "I don't see how you could be. How many helpings did you have at dinner?" She blushed. "It was only two or three…" she muttered. I grinned. "Of everything." She shoved me. "Shut up." I smirked, falling off the bed with a thump. A whole month had passed since Integra's order to protect Zara at all times, and I was still enjoying myself.

I chuckled, pulling her down on top of me when she leaned down to check if I was okay. "You might want to be careful." I said seriously, studying her face. "A passing vampire might come by and want a taste of you, since you're eating so much." She poked my chest in annoyance. "Off. Out. Whatever. I'm sure no vampire would want a taste of me, I'm all full of sugar and nastiness." I grinned. "But you _do_ taste good. In fact, I want to taste you some more myself." She blushed and I yanked her face down to mine, pressing my lips to hers.

I licked her lips, forcing them open and sliding my tongue into her mouth. She blushed even deeper, I could feel the blood rushing to her face. I was blissfully lost in her mouth, tasting her unique flavor, letting waves of pleasure flow over me. She didn't struggle, and I grasped the tail edge of her thoughts. _Why does he have to taste so good!_ I almost smirked, but was still too lost in her taste to react very much. _You taste much better my dear._ I managed to pull myself away before I went too far. I licked my lips and she mirrored me, obviously not very comfortable with the whole thing.

Just to tease her a little, I slipped my hand under the hem of her shirt, sliding it along her stomach. She shivered and squirmed, and I grinned, enjoying the feel of her skin. I stopped, arching my eyebrow in surprise. She blinked, seeing my expression. "What?" I shook my head slowly. "You should stop eating." I teased. "You're getting fat and overweight." She yelped in outrage and slammed her fist into my chest, and I grinned even more. "Are you hitting me for pointing out the truth?" I said sweetly, and she glared at me furiously. Then something seemed to click with her and she cleared her throat, looking embarrassed. "Look, Alucard… I…" I sat up, hearing something. "Shhhh."

I listened a moment more, then sighed. "It will have to wait kitten. Integra wants me for something." She put her hands on her hips. "Call me that again and I hit you where it hurts." I smirked at her, pulling her close to me in a last-minute farewell then standing up. "You can try." I said, phasing away. I heard her sigh, and wondered what she wanted to tell me.

_Zara's POV:_

I ran to the bathroom, pulling my shirt up and staring at my abdomen. Sure enough, he was right, and there was a slight bulge in my skin, right between my hips. I ran my hand over it, savagely thinking at First. _No signs of pregnancy huh? What's this then?_ To my extreme surprise, he answered. _That is one of the very last signs. Your young will be born soon, within the month. They are much smaller than human babies, because of your cat genes, so you will not seem as big as normal pregnant females. They are almost fully developed._ I bit my lip, my mind racing. _Are they all…okay?_ He sighed, and Schrö chirped. _Vhat are you vorried about!? The others will be born live!_

My heart clenched. _FIRST..._ He started talking. _One will be born dead for sure. Two of the others are looking like they might not make it as well._ I stared at my reflection. Sure, I really didn't want to have these kids. It was a decision I didn't have a say in, and I hate when that happens. But…these were _my_ kids. Mine and Alucard's. And now it was being almost blatantly stated that three of them wouldn't make it. _You get your undead posse and help them._ I thought savagely. _You go and you help my kids. And if they all die, I will skin you alive. And then have Alucard shoot you to death again._

He vanished from my mind and I leaned against the counter, feeling very strange. _Is this some kind of protective mother's instinct?_ My hands clamped around the budge in my skin, somehow trying to protect the precious lives inside. _Wow. I feel hardcore._ I wandered out into my room, wondering vaguely if I should practice weapons or something. Then I froze when I felt a slight wiggle in my stomach, like when you are really sick and your stomach is heaving. Only, I was fine. No contractions either, so it wasn't me starting labor. The wiggle came again, harder. _Oh my…_ I traced a finger over my middle.

No question. One of my little babies, my half-breed human-vampire-cat babies, was kicking. The sensation was slightly annoying, but almost comforting. Also, it made me slightly nauseous. I sat down on my bed with a thump, feeling my little kids wiggling around in my stomach, and smiling.

_**I'll be posting an image of her kids after they're born (safely), because that's when it's really positive they're going to live through the rest of the story. This may seem like I'm moving too fast, too soon, but I really want to write about her kids! They will be adorable, cross my heart, hope to die, stick a needle in my eye. And don't worry if I don't respond to your reviews right away, because the computer or network or whatever is lagging behind or something a couple days. Who knows, I may be so inspired I'll get the next chapter done today! Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	22. Chapter 22

_**SORRY FOR THE DELAY! There were more homework complications. Okay, I really didn't want to do this yet, but I'm running out of ideas to stave it off. *Sigh* If you think I'm copying anything, please tell me what it is so I can properly say "Not mine!" Let's do this!**_

_Zara's POV:_

_Swing, hit, block, dodge. Swing, hit, block, dodge._ I hit the training dumpy again, blocking the counter-spin of its pole arm, standing in for a knife or what-have-you, and dodged the flailing backspin. I was covered in sweat, and my shorts and sports bra I had put on for my training were sticking to my body. The slight bump where my babies were developing was getting more and more prominent, and before long Alucard would notice something, despite the fact I was keeping as low a profile as possible. My pony-tail bounced as I dodged again, sweat making my hair frizzy as well as plastering it to my head. I took a break, sitting down on one of the benches and drinking long gulps of water.

_Have I ever worked out this much?_ I decided that was a no. My muscles were sharply defined, and I was the picture of physical prowess, despite the bump in my stomach that looked like I was eating way too much. If you took a picture and framed it people would think I was from a gym magazine, I was that fit. It had been a week since First had said my babies were coming soon, a month and a half after the nurse did the ultrasound. Honestly, there was only one thing I hadn't done on my list. _Tell Alucard I'm pregnant with his children. Not check._ That first time I tried, he had been called away, and there was never a time since where I would have any time to get more than a few words out.

In fact, besides from Integra, I hadn't told anyone. It's not like I didn't want to tell them, it was just that I didn't want to worry anyone, and there had never been any time for that either. Vampires were acting up in the U.K. again. I ran my hand through my hair, breathing deeply and evenly. "You still not worked off that stomach?" My eyes snapped open. Soarece was standing in front of my, looking amused. "It's not for lack of trying. You look great." She said sympathetically, giving me a once-over. "Umm…" I said, sensing this was my only chance to tell anyone. "Soarece, if I tell you something, will you promise not to tell anyone, even Techno?" She nodded, looking interested. I took a long, deep breath.

"Soarece, I'm pregnant with Alucard's kids, and I might give birth any day." I said, watching her closely for an unwanted reaction. She raised an eyebrow. "You're joking, right?" she said, smiling a little. I didn't smile back. Her smile dropped and she sank down on the bench next to me. "Oh my god… you're _pregnant_?" I nodded. "Yeah. Have been since I got back from Paris and the Vatican." One corner of her mouth twitched. "Paris, hmm?" I glared at her. "Still a virgin, so don't say whatever you're thinking." She frowned, puzzled. "Wait, you said you were pregnant…what?" I traced a random pattern on my wrist. "My reproductively's so strong all I need is a male's DNA. They injected me with some of Alucard's blood, and some other random stuff."

She gasped. "But you're just a kid!" I rolled my eyes. "Thanks, oh ancient one of the mummies' tomb. How much older is grandmother?" She blushed, punching my shoulder. I winced, rubbing it. _Stupid vampire super-strength. _ "Shut up..." she mumbled, blushing. I blinked. "Speaking of relationships, how are you and Techno?" I knew I had hit something interesting when she coughed, avoiding my eyes. "Well…" I glared at her. "Spill it." She coughed again, shifting nervously. "HeproposedtomeyesterdayandIsaidyes!" she said all in one second, before blushing all the way to red and ducking her head.

I, with my more sensitive hearing, picked up on the gist. "Isn't he a bit young to be getting married?" I asked shrewdly, hiding a smile as she smiled wistfully. "Not really…he's much older inside, you know? And besides, if he wants I can turn him into a vampire and we'll have a lot of time to think things over…" I picked up on the misty smile and knew she was lost in happy-land. A smile of my own crept onto my face. _Techno getting married to a vampire. Never thought I'd see the day._ I walked back to my room, shivering now that my sweat had dried. A shadow flitted behind me, and I smiled. "Hey Alucard." I said, turning around. He looked at me curiously, and then smiled as well.

"Anyone in particular you're doing this for, or are you just working out?" he purred, squeezing my tightly to his chest before letting go and falling into step behind me. I frowned at him as he walked along. "I'm not doing it for you if that's what you're thinking." He pouted, frowning down at me. "Why not?" I rolled my eyes. "This may shock you exceedingly, but you're actually not the center of the universe. People don't have to do things that pertain to you." He gasped in mock hurt. "Really? I had no idea." I threw a dagger over my shoulder without looking, and heard a thump as it connected with his chest. A slight splash and squish was heard, then I was handed back a slightly bloody dagger.

I wiped it off on my shorts. Alucard vanished as soon as I got to my room, explaining that Integra had sent him on yet another mission. In my head I cursed as I shoved the door open. _I could've told him but nooo, I was too tired._ I took quick shower and changed into my pajamas, lying down on my bed and covering myself with the blankets. A few hours later I woke up, suddenly and violently, twisting as the most indescribable pain possible shuddered through my body. It stopped, and I lay there, panting. _What the- oh crap, again!? _Another blast of pain tore through me body and I screamed. Through the fog of pain I dimly realized something. _Is_ _this my labor!?_

_Alucard's POV:_

When I got back from killing the freak, I experienced a not foreign emotion of satisfaction. It was a fun, gory, difficult kill, the very best. But when I got back, there was a lot more lights on than normal. Then Integra's voice cut into my mind. _ALUCARD GET OVER HERE!_ I phased to her side, expecting rogue vampires or Iscariot assassins. When I there I blinked, confused. She was standing in the medical ward, pacing back and forth on the floor. "Has she told you yet?" she snapped, still pacing. "Told me what?" I rumbled, feeling annoyed. The next sentence literally made me step back a pace. "Zara's going into labor. And she's not doing well."

These were just words, formed into sentences, but they formed an image that made me want to scream. "What? How? WHO?" I roared, feeling hot rage well up within me. She didn't even glance in my direction. "She's been pregnant for a few months now. Iscariot managed to get some of your DNA inside her. Congratulations." My mind started spinning. "But I, but we-" Then I exerted my self control. "How is she?" I asked. Integra glanced at me, and my blood ran cold. It was not an encouraging look. It was an _"I'm sorry for your loss"_ look. "She probably won't make it." She said softly, and I snapped.

I strode into the medical room, seeing Zara laid out on an operating table. Her eyes were glazed and she was breathing in deep, rattling breaths. Doctors and nurses bustled around her, all doing something useful. One caught sight of me. "Hey you, we're busy, get out of-" I threw him a murderous look, and he immediately shut up. He weakly gestured towards Zara. "Umm, I mean, you try to calm her down. She's panicky." I nodded, gliding up to Zara's head. Her eyes rolled in her head, the whites showing through and her breathing escalated. "Shhhh, kitten." I murmured, stroking her forehead.

Her eyes focused on me for a split second, then rolled away. Her entire body was soaked with sweat, and she was tossing like she was in immense pain. Strangled cries escaped her lips with every convulsion, and her nails were shrinking and growing spastically. The doctors sputtered to a stop, staring at them. "Get moving!" I barked, in no mood for delay. "That means she's in pain!" They hurriedly got back to work as I tried to sooth Zara. She wasn't responding to my voice, and touching her only got a second's recognition. Her body suddenly twisted and she screamed, loud enough for all the doctors to wince, but they still kept working, eyeing me from the corner of their vision.

She screamed again and again, shuddering in pain. I desperately tried to reassure her, crooning whatever came to mind, caressing her head and rocking her. She whimpered, eyes coming back into focus long enough for me to see the desperation and agony in them, then they rolled up in her head again. I don't know how long I tried to calm her down before one doctor announced in a tired voice "That's two. Three left." The others all groaned, and I hissed at them. I hadn't the slightest clue what they were talking about, but talking was not helping Zara at all. They quickly scrambled back to their stations. Zara was absolutely soaked in sweat, the blankets and my shirt actually damp with it, her hair as dark as it would be if she had taken a shower.

She moaned nonstop, a long drawn out plea for help, and I kissed her forehead, trying to help her in the only way I could. After a while she screamed again, arching her body and convulsing. I stroked her, talking to her about anything I thought might be comforting, and generally being soothing. This happened twice more before she could even look at me. I didn't know how long this had taken, only that it was light outside now, and it had been dark when I came in. Her eyes were sunken, her whole body somehow thinner, weaker. She whimpered, and I locked eyes with her, but this time they didn't slide away. I smiled at her, and she twitched her lips.

"Oww." She rasped, and I chuckled. "Is that all you have to say?" I teased, feeling much better now she was awake and coherent. Her eyes took on that unfocused look I had come to know in the past few hours, and her lips moved like she was trying to respond, but her words were choked off in an ugly screech of pain. I swore. One of the doctors put a hand on my shoulder. "Sir, you're not doing any good now. She's almost through, and the worst should be over. You can do a lot more good letting us do our work." I glared at him, but my heart wasn't in it. I looked back down at Zara, who was beyond understanding us. "Fine." I said, phasing away. My heart throbbed in my chest, and I honestly didn't know what I would do if I lost her a second time.

_Zara's POV:_

Everything hurt. There was not one single spot on my body that wasn't a searing inferno of agony. My hips and torso were the worst. If humanity invented a word for that, they would have a new word and meaning for torture. I opened my eyes, trying to focus, but everything was blurry and sound was disjointed. A voice by me said "Only two more." I screamed in pain as a fresh contraction seized me. _I can't take this much longer!_ I didn't hear anything for a bit after that, then "I'm sorry sir, she's still not conscious. You're distracting us from our jobs." I wanted to call out Alucard's name, but my voice didn't work after hours and hours of screaming.

I convulsed as a contraction, worse than any other before it, ripped through me. For one single heart-stopping instant, I couldn't remember who I was, what I was doing, or why I was doing it. I was nothing. I was nothing but pain. They entity and awareness that was me no longer existed inside that pain. I screamed, actually lifting my back off the bed in a futile attempt to escape the pain. I bucked, trying to endure it, but failing miserably. Then it was gone, and I drew in a deep shuddering breath. "Alu…card…" I moaned, reaching out for where he was earlier.

My hand hit cold steel. He was gone. One of the doctors hurriedly pressed my hand. "Mrs., if you can hear me, you need to try to hold on, okay?" I tried to nod, but another contraction hit. I screamed, wrenching my hand away and twisting again. I sank my increasingly sharp nails into the cold and comforting steel of the bed's railing, trying to cope with the pain. They dug in, and even through my screams I could hear the harsh scraping noise they made as my hands jerked along with my body. The bleeping of the machine sped up in frenzy, and it echoed in my ears. The sound suddenly faded, and I cracked an eye open, but everything was getting dark and blurry. I fell back, letting the darkness take me.

_Alucard's POV:  
_ I paced inside the waiting room, trying and failing to not think of Zara's life petering out on the cold uncaring surface of the medical table. One of the doctors, the same one who politely asked me to leave, stuck his head in. I whipped around to look at him warily. "You may see her now." He said, looking and sounding utterly exhausted. I shoved past him, staring at Zara as she lay on the hospital bed. She looked and sounded very dead. I stepped forward, noticing the utter silence that seemed so bizarre after her continuous screams.

I reached out for her, touching her cold hand. "She's…" I trialed off, not wanting to complete the thought. The man sighed. "She's still alive, but the worst should be over now. It's up to her if she dies or not." He left, and I sat down with a thump next to her bed. I pulled her hand into my lap, studying it. She had seemed so full of life before now. Her bones felt almost frail, like that of a newly hatched chick. Her skin was waxy and pale, and she seemed to have lost extreme amounts of weight. In short, she had changed from a healthy and strong young woman to a pale, thin, and bony one in a little less than a day. I studied her face, wondering what amounts of pain she must have gone through to look this way.

A voice broke the silence. "Give me my hand back." I blinked. Her voice had changed too; it was faint and whispery, like she had screamed it out. One eye cracked open, and the corner of her mouth twitched. "Don't sit there like a rabbit in headlights. Give." I couldn't help but smirk. Whatever suffering she had gone through, she was still an annoyingly opinionated girl. I placed the hand back in her lap. Then I folded my arms. "When were you planning to tell me you were pregnant?" I said, frowning. She winced. "There was never enough time to explain properly. I couldn't just blurt it out and run off, and I honestly thought I had more time than this."

I nodded. "That is a marginally acceptable answer." I said coldly, the tone ruined by my growing smirk. She opened her mouth to reply, but before she could I kissed her passionately. "If you ever scare me like that again," I muttered "I will tear you limb from limb." She grinned. "Wouldn't I be dead before you did that?" I pulled back, scowling at her. "Don't bring logic into my threats, it'll never work." I warned her, and she rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Oh, did you need something?" I turned to see one of the doctors in the doorway. "Sir, Mrs., I need to tell you something about your offspring." She said.

_Zara's POV:_

I sat up. _Okay, so I had at least_ _four live kids. How many lived?_ She pulled a bassinet forward, but neither of us tried to look. "Two of your children were born dead." She said sympathetically, and Alucard, squeezed my hand. I edged closer to him, and he wrapped an arm around my shoulder. She continued. "One of the others was seriously crippled. He wouldn't have made it past the first few weeks, and even then he would be in immense pain before he died. We did the humane thing." I nodded, sniffling. _Three people dead before they could see anything of the world. I feel so guilty._ The nurse was actually sniffing a little too, and that must mean something bad. "You're other child died a little after she was born. She was much too small to carry enough body heat by herself."

I choked. _Four down, one to go._ The nurse took a deep breath. "One child survived. He's healthy, much more so than any of the others." She lifted a tiny baby in black pajamas out of the crib. "He here is." One look, _one look_, and my heart melted. People say their babies are cute. Personally, I never got how a vaguely human shaped slimy maggot-creature was cute, but to each his own. My kid blew them all out of the water. He made fluffy kittens look like spiny rabid lizards. His hair was a shiny black, a lot like Alucard's, and he had tiny little cat ears instead of normal human ones. Out of the back of the pajamas a tiny little black wisp of a tail waved excitedly.

He looked up at me, and I cooed. Alucard's eyes stared back at me from this little boy's face, only much more wondering and innocent than Alucard's ever were. "Aww." Oh crap, this creature just made _ALUCARD _coo. He squirmed, looking at the both of us with bleary eyes. His gaze locked on me, and I held my breath. "Mama!" he cheeped, holding out his arms for me, and my heart melted into a gooey shattered mush. He scuttled up the blanket, pulling himself up to my shoulder and curled up, humming furiously. "Mama…" he muttered, sounding blissful and hugging me around the neck. I looked at Alucard. "I think he likes me." He grinned, rolling his eyes. "I think he does too."

I looked at the boy's back, wondering. "I think we should name him Jackal." I said, nodding decisively. Alucard looked surprised, then thoughtful. "Yes, that would be a good name for him." I grinned. "So, Jackal is now both the name of a gun and a kid. OW!" This was caused by a sharp and sudden pain at my neck. I looked down, only to see Jackal sucking at the wound his razor-sharp teeth had made, kneading my shoulder with his tiny but incredibly sharp claws.

"This comes from your side of the family." I muttered through clenched teeth, trying not to yelp again. Alucard looked impressed. "Vampire and cat claws. I'm never feeding him, that's going to be someone else's job. Someone stupid." I glared at him. "Jackal." I said, and to my surprise he looked up. "Yes mama?" he squeaked, looking worshipful. I pointed to Alucard. "Daddy." He turned, seeing Alucard in all his towering impressiveness. "Daddy?" he said, edging away from me. Alucard nodded. "Yes my son." He squealed in joy and leaped at him, landing on his shoulder and scrabbling all over him, climbing up to his head and yanking his hat off. He placed it on his own head, but it immediately fell forward.

Alucard glared at me. "Your side of the family." He growled, tugging his hat and placing it out of our son's reach. Jackal seemed undaunted by this, and nuzzled into Alucard's neck. I grinned, waiting for the bite. Alucard saw the look, but before he could do anything Jackal's teeth locked on his jugular. "This boy certainly does pack a punch." He grunted in surprise as Jackal began sucking blood from him too. We both watched him feed, and it seemed like after he was done he was more toddler size than baby. I picked him off, feeling much better now that my regenerative powers had kicked in. "Shall we go terrorize the populace?" I asked Alucard, who grinned and ruffled the hair on Jackal's head before walking out the door with me.

_**Jackal's the picture for the title! Just saying! (It may not be updated at the same time as the chapter though) Isn't he adorable? No, the story's not done yet, I still have to do something nasty to Maxwell, and I finally have an idea! Also, this is a must answer question, when I post my Soul Eater story, should I post all the chapters I have, (6 right now), or should I go with the one a day system? Please answer! Still not comments or reviews, but my computer's being slow again, so I'm not yelling at you people. REVIEW, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_


	23. Chapter 23

_**Okay, so I finally got an idea for killing Maxwell. He shall die horribly and painfully, but I can't turn him into a vampire because that would require Soarece or Seras to bite him. Blech. So I'm going for something better! Isn't Jackal adorable? I know right! (If you're reading this on a phone or an iPad/pod it won't show the picture, so go on the computer if you really want to see him.) He does take after his dad a lot, but who cares? He's got a tail and kitty ears, he's gotten a lot from Zara. Let's do this!**_

_Zara's POV:_

I staggered back over to my bed, thunking down on it face first. Jackal had woken up again, and he was hungry. _Why does he have to be a vampire kid? Although I prefer that to him drinking milk, blood loss along with being up half the night is not helping my health._ I had fed him numerous times in the past weeks, and my neck was covered in tiny bites. I managed to drift off to sleep, but was awakened several hours later by a cold nose buried in my shoulder. I opened one eye irritably to see Jackal curled up close to me, whimpering and shaking. My expression immediately softened. "Hey buddy, what's wrong?" I said, hugging him and pulling him close.

He nuzzled into the shoulder he had bitten several hours before, mumbling "I had a bad dream." He sounded terrified. "Shhhh, I'm here, and me and daddy will make sure nobody hurts you." I said, rocking him back and forth. He looked up at me, and my breath caught, seeing the look of pure and absolute trust in his eyes. "But you were the ones being hurt." He said, tears welling up in his eyes. I half smiled. "Daddy will take a lot to get hurt, and mommy doesn't pull her punches either." I said, petting his hair and scratching around his ears. He half-purred, leaning close to me. He sniffled, seeming to calm down. I felt something stir in me, and fought it down, but it wasn't working. "Who was hurting us?" I said, before locking my jaws tight again.

_Curiosity killed the cat may be a stupid saying, but we are curious as heck._ I mentally cursed myself. He looked up at me again. "People with dogs and guns and bright lights and they were throwing you in cages full of dust bunnies!" he wailed, burying his face in my shoulder again. Unseen by him, I rolled my eyes. "Listen, dust bunnies can't hurt me or your daddy. Daddy can actually turn into a dog, so he'd have scared the other ones away, and he's a much better shot than everybody else, and light can't hurt anyone." I said soothingly, pulling him away from me. He looked up at me in wonder. "Really?" he said in awe.

I nodded. "Really. Now go to sleep."Somehow, Alucard's genes made themselves noticeable and he went to sleep in _my_ bed, not his own. _Damn loopholes._ I sighed and curled around him as much as the human anatomy can allow for, and closed my eyes. Thankfully, sleep claimed me and I drifted off immediately, not dreaming of Iscariot or Millennium, or crazy people with guns and dogs who fed you to dust bunnies.

_Jackal's POV:_

I sniffed mommy's hair as she slept, a peaceful expression on her face. Her scent washed over me, lemons and herbs and above all, comfort. I snuggled into the curve of her body, heaving a contented sigh. I loved everything about my mommy. Her scent, the way she moved. Her raspy-crunchy voice that somehow still carried a hint of melody. Her pretty purple eyes, slitted like mine. The way she and daddy seemed to tease each other. I loved daddy too, but not as much as her. I more admired him.

He was so tall, when I climbed up to his shoulders it felt like I could see the world. The way he always seemed so sure of himself, and how he spoke. How my hair was just like his, and how his gigantic red coat moved as he walked, all impressive and dramatic. How cool it was that he carried two enormous guns, and one was named after me! Even cooler was that he had red eyes just like mine, only with less pointy pupils. His teeth were much sharper than mine, which was another point on the coolness scale. All in all, he radiated awesome the way mommy radiated comfort.

Of course, they weren't the only ones in my family. Uncle Techno was cool, but not as cool as daddy. He taught me some stuff I could do to the maids, and I was pretty funny to watch them screech and flail when we got them wet. Auntie Soarece was pretty nice, but she always tried to make me wear some strangely-perfumy clothes and junk, so I avoided her a lot. Maniac was so awesome, she almost beat Techno. Almost. If she let _me_ blow up some stuff on occasion, she would rank right up there with daddy. Auger was okay, she read some nice books to me, but would always try to get me to read super big ones, some of them bigger than me.

The others from the _Halloween_ Squad were nice, but they always looked at me weird. Mommy said that was because I looked so much like my daddy, and I shouldn't worry. Captain Pip was a little nervous around me too, but I didn't blame him for that. When I first met him, mommy hadn't told me about the no climbing on people rule yet, and I wanted to meet him, so I yanked on his braid to climb up and sit on his shoulder. Apparently I yanked too hard, and he screamed. I still climbed up, and eventually he said through clenched teeth. "I thought I saw ze resemblance to _Monsieur_ Alucard. Please get off _enfant_." Mommy came running and told me right then about the no climbing people rule.

Cousin Seras was okay, and she always gave me some sweet crunchy things, which she called _candy_. I asked mommy why she was my cousin, and she said daddy was the one to turn her into a vampire, so she was a bit like a relative to me. Sir Integra was really scary, but she always smiled a little at me, so I guess she was okay too. I drifted off to sleep, thankfully with no nightmares this time. When I woke up next morning, mommy wasn't in the bed with me.

_Zara's POV:_

_Oog._ I slid my way down the stairs, and I literally mean slid. I leaned on the rail and let gravity yank me down the stairs. At the bottom I stumbled, but trudged on towards the kitchen. When I sat down at the counter with another gravity induced thump, a tray with a bowl of oatmeal, with some fruit and a glass of milk was shoved under my nose. "Gehwagaheck?" I slurred, looking up. Alucard's concerned face stared back at me. He gently touched my face with a hand. "You look exhausted." He rumbled, and a corner of my mouth twitched in what might have turned out as a smirk if I hadn't been so tired. "I feel exhausted." He, being fully rested and awake, did manage to smirk. "And so I have made you breakfast." He said, gesturing to the plate in front of me.

"That is what couples do for each other, don't they kitten?" he said, sliding into the chair next to mine and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. I glared at him, edging away. "First, we aren't a couple. Second, I thought I agreed you would never call me that again." The food grew to be too tempting, and I started eating. He chuckled, rubbing my shoulder and leaning close to me. I would've retaliated, but that took more energy than I had to spare for the moment, so I just ignored him and started eating. That is, until I had eaten all of the oatmeal and most of the fruit, and his tongue grazed my ear. I turned to him in annoyance. "Cut it out." I growled, munching on a pear.

He grinned. "Why? I'm allowed to snuggle with my mate, am I not?" I glared at him even more, and he would have melted on the spot if he wasn't a vampire. "Snuggling means hugs, not licks. And I'm not your mate." He pouted. "Why not? You have born my child, and we both care for each other. Mates." I rolled my eyes. "Mate implies other things, and I'm still way too young for that stuff. Just leave me alone and let me sleep." My eyes started closing, and I accidentally fell back on his shoulder. "And move so I can fall on the floor." He chuckled. "But then you'll get hurt." I nodded. "And then I'll be able to sleep on a vertical surface."

He turned me around, so if I opened my eyes I would be face to face with them. "Look at me." He said commandingly. I opened one eye. "Why?" I slurred. He grinned. "Both of them." I irritably opened both my eyes, staring into his bright red ones. Suddenly energy shot through me, and I jolted upright. "WHOA! How did you do that?" he grinned wider. "Vampires have their ways." I stretched, feeling like I could run forever. "It works, whatever it is." Suddenly he leaned close to me, almost touching his lips to mine. His moment was interrupted by Jackal. "Mommy! Daddy! I've been looking all over for you!"

He cursed under his breath, be he was so close to me I could hear him clearly. I whacked him over the head. "None of that language in front of my son now Mr." He rolled his eyes. "_Our _son." I admit, the whole parent thing was actually easier than I thought. Maybe it was just Alucard. Jackal looked up at me with that heart melting look of begging, and I resolutely tried to remain firm. "Can we go to the party? Please? Sir Integra said you had to come, but I wanna come too!" I looked at Alucard for help, be he seemed content to have me in his lap and play with my hair. "Umm… what party?" I asked him, trying to get some help. He didn't look up from my hair. "A meeting. Social, and we have to go for the usual reasons, not because we were actually invited."

I looked back down at Jackal, who was still giving me the Bambi eyes. I cursed myself for being weak. "Fine, if Integra says you can." I said grudgingly, forcing the words out from clenched teeth. His eyes lit up and he scampered off, no doubt looking for Integra. Alucard twisted me around, looking curious. "Why can't I do that?" he said in frustration. I grinned at him. "It only works if you're really small, and have an air of "What, me?" about you, which you definitely do _not _have." He sighed. "True, but it seems so useful. And it works on you." I stuck my tongue out at him. "Fall in a hole and get buried. You'd never pull it off."

He grinned, and pulled me closer. "You sure about that?" he asked in the way he did when he was really trying to pull of his lady-killer voice. I tried to nod affirmatively. "You're much too…you." He shrugged. "Why don't you want to let him go? I would have thought you would want to keep him at your side at all times." I shuddered. "Iscariot is going to have some people there. You and I can take care of ourselves, but even though he's _your_ kid, he's still only a few months old." There was a moment of silence as he took that in, and I was suddenly dumped off his lap.

"JACKAL YOU ARE NOT GOING ANYWHERE NEAR THAT PARTY, DO YOU HEAR ME!?" He roared, striding off down the hall after him. I grinned as I got to my feet, nursing a few new bruises. _Well, mark this day on a monument. Alucard is going berserker protective dad on us._ Then my smile fell. Sure, I didn't want Jackal to go either. On the other hand, it would be a good learning experience for him. Other people, semi-_normal_ people, almost never came in contact with us, especially him. _With a little bad luck, we'll have a huge family feud thing in the Pazúry family about if he goes or not. Still, we got Alucard outvoted._

_**Imagine that, if you will. Alucard being all smothery over his kid. The WEIRDNESS of it all, right? Please, please, pretty/ugly (if the physical appearance of the please will help) please with bribery on top review for me? I want to have at least a semi-equal count for the sequel than I have with my first one. (Which was 55 reviews, and I'm very proud of that) So try to do at least 40, please? Only *counts in the air* six more, that's not too much to ask, is it? *Gives Bambi eyes* Please? Well, if you have been reviewing and my computer or the network is just being really, REALLY slow, ignore this. For all I know you're already in the forties, and my computer just doesn't register it yet. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! **_

_**PS: PLEASE!?**_


	24. Chapter 24

_**Is everyone doing tests and stuff? My deepest sympathies if you are. I'm really losing motivation for this, and keep getting drawn into my Soul Eater story. BUT I MUST PUNSIH MAXWELL! After he's dead, you get no more Hellsing stuff from me. (Except for my one-shot fanfic, which is going to be a really slow updated one anyway) So if you haven't read/watched Soul Eater yet, you might want to. (Watched is preferable, since I'll be sticking to that timeline) Still no sign of drizzt, but xVentressx, falmealchemist103, and flameslavier (in that order actually) have reviewed up to chapter 18. (And the new person, VengeTheWolf, but they didn't review my other story, so this doesn't really pertain to them all that much) Thanks guys! PS: what Jackal's wearing is the outfit from the picture.**_

_Jackal's POV:_

I looked up at mommy, who was swaying in high heels towards us. Her dress was shiny and sparkly, and it was an elegant purple to match her eyes. The high heels and makeup matched. The only thing that detracted from her beauty at all was the forced smile and muttered curses. Daddy reached for her, helping her up just as she toppled over. "I take it this wasn't your choice of outfit?" he said, grinning hugely. Mommy ruffled my hair, smiling a little. "No, it wasn't. Soarece and her mob got to me first. Jackal, you look just like your dad." I beamed up at her. I was wearing a minnie version of dad's coat and a tiny black suit. Dad's smile dropped and he scowled. "He doesn't need to go." He said, and we both sighed. Mom and him had gone over this a _lot_ before I could go, and dad was still pushing to leave me here.

"He's coming, and that's that." mommy said, hoisting me up to her shoulder. She strode over to the car and put me in by Techno, sliding next to me. Auntie Soarece sat on his other side. She grinned at me and mommy. "I got you good." She said, pointing at mommy. Mommy scowled at her. "You just wait, I'm going to do something nasty in revenge." Daddy slid into the seat next to her, wrapping an arm around her waist. "I like it." He said, nodding towards Auntie. Mommy turned and glared at him. "Fine, then you wear the stupid thing. It would work wonderfully with your complexion."

_Zara's POV:_

I cast an uncomfortable glance at Jackal, who was watching interestedly. Alucard scowled and then leaned forward to whisper in my ear "Is that an offer to strip?" I slammed a dagger into his grinning mouth, hissing at him "HELL NO!" Jackal's eyes went wide as Alucard's blood dripped onto the seat. "M-mommy?" he stuttered. I blushed. "It's okay Jackal, he's fine." Alucard's hand reached by me and patted Jackal on the head, as his jaws re-hinged and he was able to talk again. "See, I'm fine son. Happens a lot, actually." Jackal stared at the both of us with HUGE eyes, and then smiled tentatively.

"You sure he's alright?" he said, edging closer to us. Everyone but me and Alucard said in exasperation "YES." He looked startled, then shrugged and sat in my lap. I spent the rest of the car ride telling him about who else was coming. "The people with crosses are from the Vatican, and you have to be very careful around them, and don't trust them at all, unless I say otherwise, okay?" I said sternly, and he nodded. "Yes mommy!" Alucard rolled his eyes at me, and I subtly stabbed him again, muttering "Shut up." Thankfully, Jackal seemed not to notice, and I went on. "Also, remember you shouldn't bite anyone, or climb on anyone, unless they're from Hellsing, okay?" I said, thinking ahead to what chaos that might cause. He nodded again. "Yes mommy, I won't."

I ruffled his hair, scratching around his cat ears, a trick he seemed to enjoy immensely. "Good kid. You're so much more different than your good-for -nothing dad." I said, sticking my tongue out at Alucard, who poked me in the side. Jackal pitched in, grabbing a lock of hair from both of us and yanking. He let go immediately, and I glared at Alucard. "Your side of the family again." He grinned and ruffled Jackal's hair as well. "When isn't it my side?" he said playfully, smirking at me. I rolled my eyes. "When he's being nice and well-behaved." He raised his eyebrows. "Nice and well behaved? Forgive me, Mrs. "Go die in a hole". I must be mistaken." I blushed. Jackal tugged on my hair again. "What's he talking about mommy?" I glared at Alucard, who was trying to look innocent and failing miserably.

"The very first time we met, your dad broke into me house, chased me to a river, shot me in the leg, and then kidnapped me the day after." I said solemnly, trying hard not to laugh. Jackal stared at Alucard, who was shaking like he was holding back laughter. "Daddy!" he said in a scandalized tone. Alucard looked up, grinning so widely I could see almost all his teeth. "It was an honest mistake." He said, voice trembling with hidden laughter. I stuck my tongue out at him. "Sure it was." I said, starting to giggle a little myself. A few seconds of tense silence filled the car, and then we all started howling with laughter, Jackal included. Techno and Soarece were giggling a little as well, and the chuckles in the front seat sounded a lot like Maniac, Auger, and Adit.

Thus we arrived at an extremely prim and proper social event, wiping our eyes and stifling laughter, dignity completely forgotten. Jackal was actually the first to notice. "Ohhh, mommy, look at all the penguin people!" he said, pointing at a crowd of men and women who were wearing tuxedos and suchlike. Everyone immediately started off again, excepting me, Alucard, and Jackal, who was looking at them in bemusement. I ruffled his hair. "That's called a suit, dear. They aren't related to penguins at all. Come on, we need to go say hi to Integra and Roger." Alucard opened the door for us, and I boosted Jackal up on my shoulder so he could see everything as I stepped out of the car. Instantly everyone's gaze was locked on the two of us, and Jackal whimpered. "Mommy?" he whispered.

I smiled at him. "Just ignore them." I whispered back. "They didn't know you were born yet, and you look so much like daddy they're in shock." He smiled back hesitantly, reaching for my hand, which I gave to him. Alucard glared at the crowd, and they all suddenly found better things to do. "Philistines." Drawled Techno's voice behind us. "Why glare at you two when there are far more dashing couples in attendance?" He gestured to him and Soarece, who was blushing slightly. "For example, us." She blushed brighter, shoving at him gently. "Shut up!" she hissed, rubbing at her shoulder. He grinned at her. "Well, you make up most of it. Your beauty outshines me like the sun outshines a candle. I will now do my candle mime of shame." He closed his eyes tightly and his hair started sparking faintly.

Soarece giggled. "Knock it off!" she said, poking his shoulder. He opened one eye. "Too much like my light bulb of shame? I fix." The sparks in his hair changed, waving back and forth like tiny flames. He closed the eye. "Much better." She was almost collapsing with laughter, but managed to say "No, stop being ashamed!" He shook his head, still with his eyes closed. "Nope." She frowned, and then a light came in her eyes that made me wince. She darted forward, pulling Techno close and kissing him on the lips. He didn't open his eyes, but the sparks in his hair flared wildly for a moment, then went out as she pulled away. He slowly opened both of his eyes.

He put both hands on his hips and drawled. "Well, if you're going to embarrass me by kissing me in front of England's finest, you should do it properly." He then bent her back and kissed her in a way that looked just like all those sappy romantic movies. Everyone from Hellsing whistled approvingly, and the fancy-stiff rumps stared, looking appalled. He pulled back, grinning at her. She smiled breathlessly, and they swept into the ballroom, holding hands. I blinked. "I don't remember him being that smooth, do you?" I said, turning to Maniac. She shook her head, holding a hand in front of her mouth to hold in her giggles. "He's matured, that's for sure. Getting married, that's what I don't get." We both shook our heads in silent confusion over the male race.

Our conversation was interrupted when Alucard yanked me close to him, ignoring Jackal, who was still sitting on my shoulders. "Why don't I get a kiss?" he muttered in my ear, and I rolled my eyes. "Because I have a sense of dignity. C'mon Jackal." I hoisted him and started walking in, waving goodbye to Maniac and the others as they went to their guard posts. Alucard walked beside me, scowling at all the males who even glanced in my direction. Jackal was speechless with awe once we went in, and I put him on the ground. "Mommy, can I go over there?" he said, pointing to a table full of food. I nodded. "Yes, but don't push and don't grab. Be polite." He hugged my leg and went off, and my attention was claimed by a scientist asking about my relationship with cats, as opposed to other animals.

_Jackal's POV:_

I stood on my tiptoes, peering over the edge of the table. There was a yummy smelling pinkish meat, and I pulled some onto my plate, along with some tomatoes and a glass of milk. I drank the milk, purring a little in content. I watched the room, noticing some of the cross-wearing Vatican people in a corner, a man and a woman. They were talking into a phone and gesturing wildly. I nibbled on the meat, which I immediately classified as a type of fish, and my pupils dilated as the flavor hit my tongue. _YUMMY!_ I squinted, trying to see mommy and ask what it was, but couldn't see her. I frowned. _Maybe I can listen for her?_ I closed my eyes, blocking out then sounds around me. _"Yes, dreadful lack of security, not anything like when the Hellsing headquarters was breached, and in the middle of a meeting no less!"_ Not mommy._ "Ah, Sir Irons, welcome. I trust you had a safe trip?"_ Not mommy either. _"Seriously, the Pazúry chick is a piece of work! I can't believe she really hasn't found a nice guy, what with a body like that. Maybe we should try for some."_ What were they talking about? Mommy wasn't a bird. I shrugged and listened more.

"What are you doing?" A voice next to me made me jump and open my eyes. I squeaked, turning to see the man and woman from the Vatican I saw before. They both gasped, staring at my eyes. "I-I'm trying to find mommy." I said, stuttering a little from fear. They relaxed a little, and the woman said "What's her name?" I swallowed. "Umm, sometimes Sir Integra calls her Zara." I said, looking at my feet. For me, mommy's name was mommy, not _Zara_. They both looked even more surprised. "Who are you?' I asked, trying to be polite like mommy told me. The woman smiled again. "I'm Yumiko, and this is Heinkel, my boyfriend." She pointed to the man, who was openly staring at me. I held out my hand. "Jackal." I said, shaking her hand and trying to smile.

She held on to it, leading me into a part of the crowd that seemed really dense. "I think I know where she is. Follow me!" I let her lead me, stumbling a little as she walked faster. We popped out of the crowd at almost the same spot mommy and me had come in, although now mommy was surrounded by men, all smiling at her. I let go of Yumiko's hand, running towards her. "Mommy!" I cried out, jumping into her arms. She caught me, swinging me up to her face and hugging me. "Hey Jackal, I wondered where you got to." She said, rubbing my ears. The men I could see over her shoulder all looked disappointed, and slouched away. "Who were they?" I asked curiously, and she blushed. "Nobody. They just wanted to talk. Where were you?" I hung my head.

"I was eating, but then I couldn't find you. I had to ask Yumiko and Heinkel for help." I said, wiggling until she put my down. She looked at the pair and forced a smile, but I could tell she wasn't happy to see them. "Oh, umm…hi guys." She said, waving a little. They waved back, both looking uncomfortable. Yumiko coughed and said "So, is his father who I think it is?" she said, not looking at me. Mommy winced. "Yes. But it was an injection. I'm still…you know." They both nodded. "Nice to see you." Heinkel said as they walked away. I looked up at her. "Who were they mommy?" I asked, tugging at her hand. She looked down at me in a surprised way, then smiled and boosted me up on her shoulder. "Just some frienemys. They're alright, but their boss is a jerk."

I nodded, not really getting it. "Why was Heinkel so quiet?" I asked again as mommy pushed through the crowd, heading towards the snack table. She shrugged. "He's usually like that. Also, the last time I saw him I sliced his chest open." I stared at her in awe, but I didn't really believe she had done that. Mommy wouldn't hurt anyone unless they were being mean. She got some food, including the yummy pink stuff. "What's that mommy?" I said, reaching for some off her plate. She handed me some. "Tuna. It's really good, because it's fish. Nothing can ever be bad if it's fish." I nodded, chewing on the tuna in delight.

"Can I have some of your blood?" I asked shyly. She nodded, reaching up with a sharp nail and piercing her neck. I licked some off, then ate a piece of tuna. I swooned, nearly falling off her shoulder in rapture. She reached up to steady me, chuckling a little. "Taste good?" she said, teasing a little. I nodded frantically, stuffing more tuna in my mouth and licking more blood off. "You taste awesome mommy. Even better with tuna." We both giggled over this for a second, then a cold voice behind us said "And who is this little creature?"

_**Oh, cliffhanger. Sorry about that but I have a new three hour limit for computer usage. They both like tuna because it's a fish, and cats love fish. Personally, I've never had it, but I usually don't like seafood anyway. The strange two day pause between reviews has been confirmed! XVentressx reviewed on the 16**__**th**__**, and it only just now appeared. O.o *shrugs* Review, Request, Rcomment, Auf Wedersien!**_


	25. Chapter 25

_**Hi guys you're back! XVentressx and flamelalchmist103, hi! (If you're not them and have reviewed, don't be insulted, it just hasn't registered you on my computer) I'll look forward to seeing you guys on my Soul Eater fanfic! I'm almost done with this, just a few more chapters and then it's Soul eater all the way! Sorry if you haven't seen/read it, and are left in the dark for that fanfic. Eight chapters, oh yeah! I have decided that I will be posting that once a day, because that'll give me time to read the reviews! So here we go.**_

_Zara's POV:_

I turned, holding Jackal close to my body. Maxwell stood behind me, staring at Jackal with a look of…greed? Hate? Whatever it was, it made my teeth and nails lengthen. "This is my son, Jackal." I said, but it sounded like _"Back off before I rip you apart."_ Jackal whimpered and pressed closer to me. "Mommy?" he whispered into my neck, confused. Maxwell smiled. "He reminds me of his father." I growled deep in my throat. "Yes. He does that. How's your cross Archbishop?" Maxwell snarled, one eye twitching. "Well? What do you want?" I said, clenching my son closer to my body. He forced a smile. "Nothing. I just wanted to see how my experiment was coming along." He ruffled Jackal's hair, and my lips drew back in a silent warning snarl. Jackal hissed at him before burying his face in my neck, trembling.

Maxwell bowed, walking away. I rubbed his head, rocking him. "Shhhh, I won't let him anywhere near you." I said, trying to calm him down. He whimpered, nuzzling me desperately. "Mommy? Who was he?" he said, voice trembling. I crooned, trying to sooth him. "Just a very bad man. He was Yumiko and Heinkel's boss. Don't mind him. Shhhh." Suddenly I felt a presence next to me and Alucard said "What's wrong with him?" I rocked Jackal, muttering "Maxwell." He snarled, wrapping his arms around the both of us and kissing the top of my forehead. "I won't let him touch you again. You or Jackal." Jackal burrowed into the space between both of us, desperately needing comfort.

Then a voice next to us said "Aww, what a cute family moment. Mind if I take a picture?" I blinked, seeing Soarece and Techno standing by us with a camera. "Umm…sure?" I said, and they immediately started snapping pictures of us. Alucard's voice echoed in my mind. _Kitten, why are you letting them take pictures of us?_ I almost scowled, but kept a smile pasted on my face. _I told you, don't call me that. I thought Jackal might like a family photo or something. I want one too. He won't stay this young and cute forever. I want a memory._ I was pretty sure he was rolling his eyes. _I will purposely not show up in this. So there._ I elbowed him, and he winced. _Fine. But I'm destroying any that come into my hands._

They were done, and handed me the pile of photos. I looked through them, and sure enough, about halfway through, Alucard showed up blurry and see-through. I discarded those, but there were still some nice ones. My favorite was one that was marginally amusing, with Alucard wincing from my elbow and Jackal looking up at the both of us in confusion. I was smirking. I pocketed that one, and gave Jackal one I thought he would like. It was one where we were both half-smiling, and Jackal was looking content. I gave Alucard the rest, and like he promised he methodically shredded them, muttering to himself. Suddenly there were screams from the part of the crowd where the Round Table gang was, and Alucard jerked like Integra was summoning him.

I pushed at him, saying "Go on. We'll be fine." He nodded and phased off, and I ducked into a nook, putting Jackal down. "Okay, listen to me." I said, making sure he was paying attention. "Something's wrong. If someone with a cross comes by, hide. _Do not_ come out, not matter what happens. Just stay down, and don't draw attention to yourself." I shoved him under a table, letting my freak form fly free. My nails and teeth lengthened, and I crouched, waiting for an attack. Smoke was billowing from the floor, and my altered nose caught hints of burned wood and glass. _An explosion?_ My ears twitched, hearing a clicking sound from the fogged air.

_Footsteps?_ I snarled silently, easing into a pouncing position. Suddenly a bullet shot out of the air, and I barely avoided it. Another followed, and another. I felt a sting, and then a burning pain slammed into my chest, directly over my heart. I collapsed, feeling blood pour from the wound, sticky and hot. Jackal's eyes glowed at me from under the table, and they moved forward. I shook my head frantically, shouting at him through my mind. _No! Stay put! Don't move! Hide!_ My heart was still going, I could feel it. But all the same, blackness closed over my eyes and I slumped to the ground. _NO! _My mind shouted. _NO! I will not leave them! NO!_ My thoughts fled under a grinding pain.

_Jackal's POV:_

Mommy slid to the floor, and I saw wet blood ooze from a hole in her chest. I crawled forward, and her voice shouted in my head. _No! Stay put! Don't move! Hide!_ I pulled back, seeing her eyes glaze over and half-close. The fire that burned in her eyes after she turned catlike flickered and died, and she let out a long breath. I waited for her to take in another breath, but she was absolutely still. _Mommy?_ I reached out, wanting to help. "Mommy?" I whispered, wanting her to wake up. A pinkish bloody tear slid down my cheek. "Mommy!" I wailed, sobbing.

Suddenly a hand shot towards me, and I yelped. It grabbed me by the scruff of my neck, and I flailed, screaming. It dragged me out from under the table, and I screamed, clawing at the person. I felt a searing pain in my arm, and then a soft blackness welled up in my vision. I struggled, trying to wake up and get to mommy. "Momma!" I wailed, before utter blackness took me.

_Alucard's POV:_

Integra and the other Round Table members were fine. It was just some madman, with a small grenade that detonated away from all the other people. I phased back to where I had left Zara and Jackal, and froze. She was lying on the ground, bleeding from a bullet, eyes barely open. I turned her over, feeling for her pulse. It was still there, barely. "Kitten?" I asked her, and she moaned. "Alucard? Where…Jackal?" I looked around, but didn't see him. An icy fear crept into my heart. "What do you mean?" I asked harshly. "He…hid…over…there…" She flicked a hand at an overturned table. I looked back at her. "He isn't there now."

Panic flared in her eyes, and she struggled to sit up. I pushed her back down. "Kitten, you were just shot. Stay down for once in your life." She shook her head. "Stop…calling me that… I'm…going to find…my kid…with or without…your help." She tried to sit up again. I sighed. "I'll help, but you need to stay put right now. Or else." She growled at me. "Or else what?" I smirked. "Or else I strap you down and look for him myself." She sighed, falling back. "Fine… what happened?" I shrugged. "Madman. Ran towards the Round Table meeting, trying to throw a grenade at them. Maxwell, actually. Sadly, he missed and it hit no one." She looked concerned. "Is he still alive?"

I shook my head. "The Paladin shot him with his bayonets." She sighed, head falling back down on the floor. "Of course. A bit too convenient, that he was aiming for the most likely subject for Jackal's kidnapping?" I nodded. "Yes, that was my thinking." I helped her sit up, noting that she seemed much stronger. Her head fell onto my shoulder, and she sighed. "What if," She said haltingly, her eyes starting to water. "What if we don't find him? It'll be all my fault." I smoothed the hair away from her forehead, ignoring her weak protest. "He'll be fine. You Pazúry are tough little things." She nodded, biting her lip. "I know but…he's so young. He doesn't know how mean people can be! He'll never make it! He'll-" I silenced her with a harsh kiss.

I pulled back reluctantly. "He's no fool. Stop second-guessing him." I murmured, rocking her. She buried her nose in my jacket front, obviously holding back tears. She lost her battle, and I felt the salty liquid soak into my shirt, and felt her body heave with muffled sobs. I rocked her, trying to comfort her as best I could, but what I really wanted to do was go out and shoot Maxwell into bloody pieces. Only two things stopped me, namely that A), it wouldn't help Jackal anyway, and B), Zara needed me here and now. Footsteps came close, then stopped. Integra's voice cut the air like a knife. "What happened?" I growled low in my throat, holding Zara tighter. "They took him. He's gone."I said, not needing to tell her who. Zara nodded, not lifting her head to see who asked.

"Permission to Search and Destroy?" I said, staring off into the distance where I imagined Jackal might be. She nodded. "Find him and bring him back." I let go of Zara, but she clung to me, obviously in shock. "Kitten" I murmured in her ear. "You need to let me go find him." She shook her head. "Coming with you." She said through clenched teeth. I sighed. "Fine." I stood up, helping her to her feet as well. I walked out, half carrying, half restraining her as we went in search of our lost child.

_Jackal's POV:_

I blinked, feeling sleepy. I sniffed, but couldn't smell mommy at all. "Momma?" I said sleepily, looking around. Then my eyes snapped fully open and my nails dug into the cold steel of the van beneath me. I scrambled over to the farthest corner away from the two sleeping forms next to me, noticing as I did that my hands were tied together. One twitched, and opened its eyes. "Well, well, look who's awake." The voice sounded a lot like Yumiko's. "Yumiko? Heinkel?" I squeaked. She smirked. "Yumie. Heinkel is still asleep." She got up and pulled my face close to hers. "Listen you abomination. I'm Yumie, and I've killed more men than you've ever even seen. Sit down and stay quiet and I might not kill you too painfully." She let go and sat back down, watching me through hooded eyes.

I racked my brain, trying to think of who Yumie was. _Didn't mommy say one of the Vatican people had a split personality? Maybe that's Yumiko's split personality. It certainly acts nothing like her._ My stomach growled. I didn't know how long I had been asleep, but my stomach told me it had been hours. I sighed. A thump on the ground next to me made me look up. A plastic bag full of blood was right by my head, and I strained, trying to grab it. I only managed to whack my head against the floor, and I growled. My teeth managed to graze the edge of the packet and I bit down, hungrily sucking at the blood. It wasn't much, maybe half a cup, but it was better than nothing. It tasted stale somehow, and cold, like eating expired bread frozen in the freezer.

But mommy told me I was always supposed to eat what people gave me, because I could never know how much or when I would get more. So I choked it down, and tried to sit back up. I managed, barely, and looked around. The van was small, and metal, and the only people in it were me, Yumiko/Yumie, and Heinkel, who was still asleep. A voice inside my head prompted me. _Jackal, you've been kidnapped. Vhat are you going to do about it?_ I blinked. _Who are you?_ The voice laughed, and I got the impression of a cat-boy with blond hair and a Nazi uniform. _I'm Varrant Officer Schrödinger! I vas stuck in your mother's mind until you vere born, und then I vas stuck in you as vell!_

I felt a flash of anger. _You were part of the Millennium group mommy hates so much! Get out of my head!_ He laughed. _I'm evervhere und novhere. You can't kill me, or drive me out! Once I'm here, I'm here to stay!_ I groaned, wanting to whack my head against the wall. He laughed again, rolling around on what felt like the ground. _I have the same effect on her too! Honestly, I'm just here to help. So, if you're kidnapped, then vhat do you think you should do now? You can't fight them, that vould be suicide. Vhat can you do to help your parents find you?_ I frowned, thinking it over. _Umm, I have no clue. What do you think I should do?_

Schrödinger paused, in the middle of chasing his tail. I growled, wanting very badly to stab him or shoot him like mommy and daddy would do. _No clue. I'm just here to try und help. Fraulien Zara vould_ _rip me to bloody shreds tons of times for leaving you alone in the dark._ I gasped. _Mommy wouldn't hurt anyone!_ He laughed again, falling on the ground and gasping. _Vhat mine have you crawled from? Fraulien Zara's killed more people und vampires than your entire Wild Geese mercenary group combined! _I shook my head. _Not true! Not true! Mommy's a good person! Mommy's a good person!_ Schrödinger stopped laughing abruptly. _Vell ya, she is that. Never killed an innocent person in her entire life. Not like your father._

I screamed, and Heinkel and Yumie both stared at me. Pinkish tears dripped down my face as I cried. _SHUT UP! LEAVE ME ALONE! I don't care what you want! Go away!_ Schrödinger ignored me, chasing his tail again. _Fine. I know vhen I'm not vanted. Go ahead und die. Fraulein Zara can just deal vith it. I don't care either vay._ I sobbed, crying for mommy, for daddy, for anyone to come and comfort me. What I got instead was a boot slamming into my back, throwing me against the wall. I wailed, and the boot hit me again. My vision was getting darker and darker, and with one last cry I slipped into unconsciousness.

_**Again, I will make Maxwell die a horrible and painful death. Sorry about poor Jackal. He gets his revenge. I made Schrödinger be a lot like Excalibur (reference from Soul Eater, sorry if you don't get it) didn't I? FOOLS! Thanks for being so faithful xVentressx! You rock. My first reviewer (ever) is still going! And thanks to flamelalchemist103 for reviewing as well. (I know, isn't Jackal squee? I'm glad I spread the population of grinning maniacs. I would say sorry about your family, but I happen to like it when that happens to me.) Hoping to see the rest of my reviewer group soon! I'm listening to Ova episode 7 as I write this. I feel so depressed. I liked Capitan Pip! He was so cool! Stoopy Zorin, that's a cheater's way to fight. *goes off in a rant* -I mean, if you going to kill someone, actually do it instead of using illusions! She's my least favorite Hellsing character. The only character I have conflicting opinions on is Rip van Winkle. She sings really cool, and has an awesome attack and stuff, but there's a distinct thing about her that I hate. When Alucard's after her ship, does she try to shoot him? NO! I mean, the whole time I'm watching it I'm yelling "RUN! HIDE! SHOOT HIM! DO SOMETHING ALREADY! DON'T JUST STAND THERE WITH YOUR MOUTH HANGING OPEN!" Honestly. *sighs and stops ranting* So anyway, I either like or dislike everyone else. Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_

_**PS: Hehe, stoopy Major, standing on a blimp and conducting battle music in the middle of a war. (OVA 8)**_


	26. Chapter 26

_**Yaaaaaaaay! My reviewers are back! VengeTheWolf has reviewed again, twice! Only flameslavier and drizzt are missing. They are MIRA. (Missing in reviewing action) DX I hope you guys come back soon! I miss you! I would PM them, but I don't know if that would be getting a bit pushy or not. (Also I kinda don't know how*looks sheepish*) Okay, we've hit the 40 mark, thanks for that. We've even gone to 41! Ideally, I would like 55 reviews, because that's how many I got for my last one, but I'm pretty sure I won't, because it's probably not going to be as long as my other one. Also two of my reviewers are gone. I'll probably be lucky to get 50. Try for me? Thanks!**_

_Zara's POV:_

I sat in a daze, feeling dizzy and sick. Jackal's scent had lasted all the way to a parking lot several miles away, then stopped. Alucard had gone in, pushing me down on the bench and ordering me to stay there. A shadow fell over me, and I looked up to see him standing in front of me, looking concerned. "A van with several people in it matching the description of Vatican agents pulled out from here a few minutes ago." He said, waiting for me to stand up. I did, wobbling a little. "Are you alright?" he said, leading me towards a car Integra had lent to us. I stared at him as I buckled myself in.

"The bullet's gone." I said, wondering what he was talking about. He looked at me out of the corner of his eye. "No, I mean, are _you_ alright?" I blinked. _Alright…what does he mean? I'm fine… I think…_ I stuck my head out the window, sniffing for any trace of Jackal's scent, or anyone I knew from the Vatican. After a few minutes I caught a whiff of sword, candles, altar dust, blood, and silver. "Yumie and Heinkel ." I said, pulling my head back in. Alucard swerved to avoid a vehicle driving the opposite direction. "You sure?" he rumbled, baring his teeth. I nodded. "Yumie smells bloodier than Yumiko. Sadly. Yumiko might have been reasoned with. Yumie isn't reasonable." Alucard swerved again. "Heinkel?" he said, ignoring the "One way street" sign completely as we barreled down the highway.

I shook my head. "I don't know. He seemed reluctant to fight me before, but that was before I hacked his chest open. And they all hate your guts." He nodded grimly, narrowly avoiding a semi. "Since when have you wanted to negotiate?" I said after a moment's silence. He grinned, showing every single one of his fangy teeth. "I don't. I want to know who will hesitate before they shoot." I nodded. _Perfectly reasonable._ There was another silence, and he gave me a worried look. "Well?" he said, obviously expecting me to say something. "What?" I said irritably. "Aren't you going to try and ask me to spare their lives? Witty sarcasm on me being a killing machine?" he said, looking at me in surprise.

I shrugged again, not answering. He blinked, then resumed dodging other cars. I traced small circles on my window, wanting to be close to Jackal _now._ My mind was a whirl of conflicting emotions. I wanted to rip Heinkel and Yumie apart. I wanted to spare them. I wanted to collapse and cry on the curb. I wanted to smash something into a million pieces and pretend it was Maxwell's head. I wanted to blame myself for being weak and giving into pain. I wanted to berate Alucard for leaving us. I was lost in a whirl of spinning and churning emotions. Fear, pain, worry, suspense, anger, helplessness, rage, confusion, all swirling together inside my head, along with a cheery thought of. _Am I finally going crazy?_

_Alucard's POV:_

I was worried about Zara. She had been silent all through yesterday, and now it was almost sunset again. Even when she was unconscious or sleeping, she had never been quiet that long. When I questioned her directly, I got a grunt or a shrug, not even monosyllables. Her mind barriers were eroding, crumbling, and I could sense emotions now, something I always had to rely on smell with her before. It was a cornucopia of negative things, and _bruised_ somehow, like she was in shock. Jackal's kidnapping had clearly affected her greatly. I understood a little, she was only a young teenager, and a mother of a supernatural creature at any age is not easy on the body. The stress might have been getting to her. Now he was gone, her motherly instincts were in full force.

That might have explained it, but something was _not right_ about that explanation, much as I wanted it to be the right one. I reminded me a little of the way her brother's mind had felt, and that was making me extremely uneasy. The car was running on fumes when we stopped at a hotel and gas station, and I checked in. Zara dragged her luggage to the room, dumped it in a corner, and plopped down on the bed, clearly intending to sleep. I had other plans. "Kitten?" I said, waiting for her anger to spike at the name. No answer. Her emotions swirled in a sullen mess, reminding me of a sleeping volcano. "Kitten, what's wrong?" I said, sitting on her bed.

She rolled away from me, not saying anything. "Kitten…" I said, a warning clear in my tone. "Nothing." The words were said without emotion, dull and mechanical. She didn't turn back around. I reached over, turning her around so she was facing me. She didn't resist at all, and that bothered me even more. The Zara I knew would have growled, shoved at me, struggled, and stabbed me when I finally got her to turn over. Not meekly accept it. "Something's been wrong with you ever since the party." I said, folding my arms. "Why aren't you telling me what it is?" She shook her head, not answering. I snarled, but that didn't faze her at all. She mechanically replied "Nothing's wrong."

"Is it because of Jackal?" I said, sensing I wasn't getting through to her. She blinked. "No…" I felt a trace of satisfaction when I heard some _emotion_ in her voice. Her face crumpled up, and she curled up into a ball. My satisfaction vanished. She hiccupped, and I saw tears running down her face. "I…I…" she sobbed, and I hugged her, pulling her close to me and rocking her. "Shhhh…" I hummed, sensing she was very near to some kind of breaking point. "I think I'm going crazy!" she sobbed, tears pouring down her face. I blinked in shock. "I don't want to hear voices in my head anymore! I don't want my son to hear voices like I do!" She wailed. I wondered what she was talking about, feeling a bit guilty because I was occasionally a voice in her head as well.

_I hate feminine hysterics._ Usually when something like this happened I had another female to dump the person on, but now it was just me and her. Not that I was complaining. "He'll be fine." I murmured into her ear. "He's strong like his mother." She sobbed harder. "That's my point! What didn't kill me made me stronger, but it drove my brother crazy! It's driving me crazy now too! I don't want it to drive Jackal crazy as well!" I made an understanding sound._ Now I get it._ "Don't worry about it." I said, rocking her and crooning to her softly. "He'll be fine. You'll be fine. Everything will be alright." She nodded, already trying to be strong like she always was.

Despite her newfound resolution, it took me an hour before she was calm enough to try sleeping. When she actually tried, she fell asleep almost instantly. I walked over to my coffin, but didn't get in. My gaze wandering over to her, cradled in the blankets and humming softly, then back to my coffin._ I shouldn't. It would be too much of an intrusion. She needs her space right now._ I sighed in longing. Those two nights I had spent with her warm body pressed against mine were the best ones I had in ages. My eyes locked on her body, rising and falling rhythmically in sleep. _I shouldn't._

I got up, walking outside into the hallway, trying to think. _She wouldn't understand. I don't really want to anyway. My coffin is much more comfortable than a mattress with rusty springs._ Unconsciously, I began to pace back and forth. _I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to. I don't want to._ I took a deep breath, convinced I had mastered the impulse. I phased back inside, glancing briefly at her, then looking back at my coffin. I shook off a faint sense of regret and lay down, sighing deeply in content.

_Zara's POV:_

_Warm._ My thoughts were monosyllabic at best after I woke up, a welcome relief from the jangling emotions I was struggling with last night. _Soft._ I muttered happily, snuggling further into the covers. _Content._ Even the thought of Jackal being kidnapped was distant, but I was still too asleep to worry about that. My eyes slowly opened, and I realized dreamily that someone was in the bed with me. _Hmm? _ I was pressed snugly against the person's chest, and one of his legs had been draped over mine. His arms were wrapped around me, and in spite of this clear breach of personal space, all I could muster was a feeling of slight annoyance.

The fact it was Alucard, who should have known better, especially should have made me mad. But again, all I felt was a slight annoyance, maybe confusion. _Why is he with me? He's got his coffin._ I sighed, and he twitched, but didn't wake up. _Maybe he fell asleep in my bed? No, he left before I went to sleep._ While such an action was very touching, the fact the fearsome No-Life King was the one doing it made it a little more uncomfortable. _He's only slept in the same "bed" as me twice before, and once it was only a couch! Does he enjoy it, or is he just messing with me? Is he…thinking of other things?_

He moaned softly and twitched again, and I would have jumped had I been vertical. _Even when he's asleep he's still freaking me out. _ I studied his face, since getting out of his grip before he woke up was impossible. Even with his eyes closed, he was someone I would have pegged as a vampire on the street without question. He had that sort of face, and just that indefinable look of agelessness, that turned on alarm bells in my mind. He rolled over suddenly, so I was now underneath him, although he was still asleep.

I wiggled, trying to wake him up. "Jerk." I said softly, growling a little in my throat. He stirred and muttered again, but didn't wake up. Ideally, I would have stabbed him several times, but I was effectively helpless under him right now. I sighed, resigned to the fact I was staying here for an extended length of time. Then something wet touched my throat, and I twisted my head to see him kissing it, mouth locked on my skin. I made a face. _Weirdness factor just shot way up. I hope he doesn't give me a hickey or whatever._ He started moving his mouth up to my jaw line, which was good because he wasn't sucking on just one point anymore, but bad because I didn't know what he was going to do before he woke up.

He reached a point just below my ear, and paused for a second. Then he started nibbling it, and I blushed bright red. _I really do not want to know what he's dreaming about._ "Alucard, back off now." I said as sternly as possible, but he was still asleep. Bang went my theory he was awake and just messing with me. "Please, stop." I said, trying to see if he really and truly was asleep. Nothing. I bit my lip hard, trying to think of a way to wake him up before he did something really creepy. I tasted blood, then froze. If I crossed my eyes, I could see a thin red spot on my lip were my teeth had broken the skin. Alucard twitched all over, letting go of my ear and growling.

_Please wake up, please wake up, please wake up, please wake up._ I silently begged him, then prayed silently that whatever he would do wouldn't be too much weird for me to handle. He moved so suddenly I squeaked, and his mouth fastened on my own, sucking hungrily at the tiny spot of red on my lips. I blushed bright red again, but apparently he was still too asleep to care. His tongue lapped at the miniscule wound, most likely healing it instantly. He growled and tugged at my lip with his teeth, obviously trying to find more blood. I gasped, realizing that he had been doing this for several minutes, and I was rapidly running out of oxygen.

This was not on his list of sleep-weirdness concerns, because he didn't need to breathe himself, he saw no reason to pull away from an apparent blood source that just happened to need air. I thrashed, desperately trying to suck in air, and some icy cold, dusty air surged into my lungs, and I almost hacked. _Apparently his lungs still have some leftover air in them. Eww._ Breathing air that was stuck in someone else's body, not to mention a dead someone's, felt a lot like resuscitating a dead body while their ghost was watching. It was just _weird_. _Eww, and weird, and wrong. God forbid he ever sleepwalks, if this is what he's like laying down!_

With just as little warning as the first time, he suddenly rolled over, so I was at least not directly under him, although he was still holding me down. At least he wasn't kissing me anymore. Enough was enough. I cupped my hands together next to his ear. "WAKE UP! TIME TO LEAVE! LET'S _GO_ BATBOY!" he jerked, finally opening his eyes. "There's no need for petty insults." he growled, sounding extremely tired. I would have put my hands on my hips, but he was in the way. "There is if you've been awake the last five minutes like me." He blinked, obviously not getting it, and I wasn't going to tell him, because repeating what just happened would have been _way_ too embarrassing.

_Jackal's POV:_

I woke up, peering blearily around the room I was now in. Then I blinked and straightened up. My hands were free, but what really got me was the fact I was in something like a schoolroom, albeit a _very_ Christiany one. Crosses and bible quotes were all over the walls, and a permanent one was inlaid on every desk. A bible was tucked under every desk, including the one I sat at. A man with glasses and a really big trench coat was sitting at the teacher's desk, boot's kicked up on it. "Hello?" I murmured, trying to get some human contact. The man twitched, then put his feet on the floor. "You'd be the wee Jackal then?" he growled in a heavily accented voice. I nodded.

He raised an eyebrow, staring at my eyes. "Mm. Well then, what's this for?" He tossed me a cross, a silver one, like the ones all over the classroom. I caught it easily, staring at the shiny surface. "It's a cross." I whispered, and he made an impatient sound. "I know that. But what's it _for_?" I stared at him blankly. "Umm…mommy has one she uses sometimes." I said quietly, a tear sliding down my cheek as I thought of her. He looked incredulous. "Oh she does, does she? What does she do with it?" I couldn't help but smile at the memory, even when I was this depressed. "She bonked daddy on the head with it for punishment once." He choked, and then took a deep breath. He stood up, walking over to me, and I cowered in my seat as his full height was made apparent to me. He was _huge_, almost as tall as daddy.

He grabbed the cross back and let a book thunk down on the table. "What's this for?" he growled, walking back to his desk. I flicked it open, staring at the tiny, cramped handwriting and lengthy dialogue. "It's a bible?" I asked, looking at him. He nodded gruffly. "Uncle Techno plastered daddy's room with the pages of one once, and he was put on flagpole duty for a month." I said, wincing at the memory. The man frowned. "Flagpole duty?" I squirmed. "Every morning he has to run back and forth between the flagpoles, putting them up and putting them down every three runs, with the Wild Geese firing at his feet. And he has to do it again at night before he goes to bed."

One corner of the man's mouth twitched, but he didn't smile. "How far away are these flagpoles?" I shrugged. "Dunno. At either end of the manor. Integra had them put up a few weeks after Techno dumped coffee on her files." He sighed. "We'll have a long way to go. I'm Alexander Anderson, and I'll be teaching you." He held out his hand, squatting down so he wasn't towering over me as much. I gingerly shook it, wondering what he meant by "long way to go". "Okay." I said in a small voice. He smiled at me reassuringly, letting go. "How many people have gone on flagpole duty?" He said, sitting back down at his desk. I giggled. "Just Techno so far. He's done it twenty times this month."

_**Don't worry, I'll explain everything next chapter. We'll see more of Alucard's weird sleep habits in my one-shot fanfic. REVIEW. I will put you on flagpole duty if you don't! Thanks for the positive encouragement thus far, but I need one more push before finishing and going on to my Soul Eater fanfic. Out of flameslavier, drizzt, VengeTheWolf, xVentressx, and flamelalchemist103, who's even heard of Soul eater? (My rantings do not count) Please tell me! Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	27. Chapter 27

_**The flagpole threat works, apparently. Flamelalchemist103 has reviewed and xVentressx too. VengeTheWolf hasn't reviewed, but since they've only done some of the latest chapters of this fanfic, it's not so surprising for them. Flameslavier and drizzt are still gone. *sad face* I hope you people had a nice day, because do you know what happened to me the second to last class in school? I started gushing blood out of my nose. It's kinda funny, because I bleed so rarely it's a novelty for me, so when it started I was all like "Why is my nose dripping?" *touches finger to it, then looks at it* "Oh." *shrugs and licks finger off before getting a Kleenex* That's what I actually did. No, I'm not some kind of weird vampire person, I'm just crazy. Plus blood tastes kinda good. I mean, who hasn't as a kid, licked their blood off when they're bleeding? It grows on you. Everyone at my lunch table says so. (And they're all just as crazy as I am. More crazy in some cases) Like one time, I had a couple of nasty nose bleeds, and they were so bad actual blood clots came out my nose. There was one that was like, six inches of stuck-together bloodiness. I was shocked it fit in my nose. (Are you grossed out? My friends have the same reaction. I don't get what's so gross, I mean, it's not like it was my boogers or something!)**_

_Jackal's POV:_

"If any one of the house of I-Israel or the s-strangers who so-sojo-sojourn among them eat any blood, I will set my face a-against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from a-among his people. For the life of the f-flesh is-" Father Anderson waved his hand impatiently. "Do you know how to read?" he said shortly. I shrugged. "Mommy taught me a little, but this has a lot of hard words in it." He sighed and yanked the book towards himself. He began reading, with a great deal of emotion and clarity. "If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life."

"Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood. Any one also of the people of Israel, or of the strangers who sojourn among them, who takes in hunting any beast or bird that may be eaten shall pour out its blood and cover it with earth. For the life of every creature is its blood: its blood is its life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, You shall not eat the blood of any creature, for the life of every creature is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off." He pushed the book at me. "That's about vampires laddy. Your kind."

I squirmed in my seat. "I'm not a real vampire…" I said sullenly, pointing to my ears. He rolled his eyes. "You're father made sure that you are considered a true vampire in every sense of the word. Read this one then." He shoved a bible open to a different page at me. "They provoked Him to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations provoked they Him to anger. They sacrificed unto devils, not to God, to gods whom they knew not, to new gods that came newly up, whom your fathers feared not." I read slowly, stumbling a little over the strange phrasing. He smiled at me encouragingly. "Better. You're learning faster than I thought you would." I wiggled in my seat. "Why do I have to learn this stuff?" I whined, wanting to be back home with mommy and daddy and Techno and everybody else.

He rapped his fingers on the table to get my attention. "The word of god is necessary. You must learn it to follow the cleansed path." I avoided his eyes, wanting to scream out _But I don't __**want**__ to learn the cleansed path or whatever._ He shoved his chair back so he could stand up. "That's enough for now. I have to go report to me superior. Keep studying." I squinted at the black words as he left, trying to somehow get them to make any kind of sense. No luck, they were so tiny and crabbed it was hard to make out a letter, forget sentences. I sighed. _Mommy! Come find me soon!_

_Anderson's POV:_

"And are you sure this is the approach to take?" I said, watching Maxwell shuffle around in his office. "Yes. The good-cop bad-cop routine works admirably on one so young and naïve. Who would you suggest for his…trauma inducer?" I shrugged. "Yourself. The she-demon has clearly taught him to be wary of Vatican officials, and you are what must scare him most. From what I hear, you absolutely terrified him at the party." I said carelessly, any spawn of Alucard's could die for all I cared. "The security measures have been taken care of?" he said anxiously. I didn't blame him. We had seen what the she-demon and Alucard would do in a rage. And that was when they weren't fighting for a lost child.

I nodded. "Yes. Are you sure they will work?" I said hesitantly. "They depend on the vampire being more protective of his mate then aggressive, and that's not something he's famous for." Maxwell waved a casual hand. "He will protect her at all costs, if my intelligence is correct. With luck, this may even finish her off for good, and he will go into mourning for as long as we can conspire to keep him there." I let out a quiet sigh of relief. _That's one less demon to worry about._ As I walked out, a trace of alarm filtered through my system. _I hope they use it all. I don't want that used on me in the future._

_Zara's POV:_

I leaned out of the car as far as I could, and inhaled deeply. "South by southwest!" I called out, smelling Jackal's blood and a faint whiff of churches. Alucard swerved, but we were actually on the right lane this time, and avoided crashing. I had to duck to avoid a passing branch though. I slid back in the car, muttering and rubbing my head. "You drive worse than Techno." I said, buckling myself back in. He shrugged. "Unlike most people, I actually don't care if I crash or not. That eliminates most rules of the road." He said calmly, narrowly avoiding some family's RV. I grabbed both sides of my seat. "And you don't care about the people on the road!" I yelped as the car became momentarily airborne.

He shrugged, grinning maniacally. "Not really." I heaved a deep sigh as the car flipped a couple times. _If I wasn't sure he could get me out before an accident even occurred, I would totally be peeing my pants right now. Cars aren't supposed to flip._ He landed right side up and blew past the other cars piling up and the site of his victim. "H-how m-much l-longer i-is t-this c-car g-going t-to h-hold u-up?" I said as the car rattled along a series of mopeds, abandoned by their owners. He looked over the side. "Dunno. Usually my cars break before it gets to this." I sighed. "How comforting."

I was right. The car gave out a few minutes down the road, engine bursting into flames and suspension literally falling out of the bottom. "So we walk from here?" I said brightly, unbuckling myself. He nodded, getting out with me. My eyes lit up as I smelled Jackal's scent, fresh and strong. "He's close." I said, sniffing the wind. "Really close." Alucard raised his eyebrows. "How close?" I sniffed again. "Miles, if not meters." His face lit up in a grin, and he chuckled. "So, are we going to wait for reinforcements?" he said slyly, already pulling out his guns. I shook my head. "Nope."

_Jackal's POV:_

I was getting better. The words could be deciphered, after a while. I heard the door open and close, but ignored it. That is, until a hand slammed down in front of my face. I yelped and jerked away, heart pounding. I looked up to see that man, Maxwell, that mommy had warned me about. I hissed at him, but inside I was shaking in fear. Schrödinger laughed in my head. _You're in trouble…_ He snickered. Maxwell brought his hand across my face, but I didn't dare retaliate. "Momma." I whispered, trying to think of something happy. He hit me again. "You have no mother." He said, voice dripping with venom. I shook my head. "Momma." I said, louder. He hit me harder. "You. Have. No. mother." He said, punctuating each word with a blow.

I shook my head. "Momma!" I screamed, backing away from him. "Momma! Momma! Momma!" He kicked my legs out from under me. I crawled under a desk, wedging myself into the farthest corner I could. "Momma." I whispered, trying to call her here faster. His hand grabbed my leg, and I clutched the edge of the desk, trying to stay put. "Momma!" I wailed, no longer trying to be brave. _I want my momma!_ I sobbed, tears running down my face as he started pulling me out from under the desk, too strong for me to resist. "Momma!" shrieked, twisting away from him as he yanked me out into the open. I hear the door open again and bolted for it, slamming into someone else's leg. I clamped on, not caring who it was, anyone was better than _him._

_Anderson's POV:_

The creature hugged my leg, sobbing. I shook it, trying to knock him off, but he only grabbed it harder. "Momma!" he wailed, obviously crying out for her. Maxwell dusted himself off and walked past me, completely ignoring the traumatized little demon. I bent down. "Alright now laddy, what's wrong?" I said, trying to talk to him like a child at the orphanage. He looked up at me, and I had to force myself not to turn away. The eyes, my mortal enemy's eyes, stared at me with an emotion that was utterly alien to the originals. Fear. Terror. Loneliness. "I want my momma!" he wailed again, sobbing uncontrollably.

_Jackal's POV:_

Father Anderson helped me calm down, but I was still aching with need to be back at Hellsing. To say hi to Maniac. To prank someone with Techno. For momma to read to me, or daddy to show me how to sneak up on something. Suddenly, alarms went off and I looked up in hope. "All personnel evacuate! Evacuate! Alucard is here!" I heard a crunching sound, and then the most beautiful voice in the world yelled through the microphone. "And Zara Pazúry! Honestly, some people are just rude. Jackal, hold on dear, me and daddy are coming for you! Over and out!"

Anderson shook his head, grabbing his trench coat and heading for the door. I scampered after him, wanting to find mommy and daddy. We turned a corner, and I froze. Mommy was slicing through people like trees, cutting off heads and dancing around their bullets. Daddy was shooting at them a crazed grin on his bloody face. They were both laughing. I trembled. The realization that my parents were demons, monsters, had hit me before, but this was different. I feared them. They terrified me. Mommy turned, and I saw the mommy I knew appear on her face. "Jackal!" she shouted, and daddy turned. As he did, I saw a sniper fire something at mommy. She turned, deflecting it, but another missile hit her, one that had been fired right after the first.

_Zara's POV:_

_ This is bad, this is very bad._ The chant repeated over and over in my head and I dodged more bullets. Whatever they shot me with hadn't taken effect yet, but I would bet Jackal it wasn't a sunshine and daises tonic. I was still moving at me usual pace, and then a bullet hit me smack in the chest. I waited for the wound to heal, but the blood kept coming as I pivoted on the spot to send a dagger into the man who shot its face. Then it hit me. _They undid my regenerative powers. Crap._ There was sudden silence, and I looked over to see Jackal being held by Maxwell, and all the other people decimated by Alucard and myself.

"I'll just shoot you." Alucard growled, holding (appropriately) the Jackal at Maxwell. Maxwell grinned smugly. "I'm sure you will. However, your mate seems a bit pale. Perhaps she doesn't want me to die?" Alucard turned, seeing me on the ground with blood soaking my front and back. "Amazing what can hurt you, after regeneration is out of the question." Maxwell said in amusement, backing away from us with Jackal. Alucard dropped to his knees by my side, pulling me upright and running his hand through my hair. "Kitten?" he asked, looking at my wound. I coughed, tasting blood. "Right through the heart. They got me good."

Maxwell was almost through the doors now. Alucard ignored him completely, desperately racking his brains for something that might help. Nothing came up and he looked at me despairingly. "I-" he said, sounding choked. I rolled my eyes. "You. Welcome to the obvious club. I'm dying Mr., and you can't stop it." He smirked, but it soon dropped. "I won't lose you again." He said, sounding pained. I sighed. "I don't think you have a choice." I said, already slipping into blackness. I heard him say something, but I was already too far gone to understand words.

_Alucard's POV:_

She was still going. I could hear it in her lungs and heart, despite the fact she was now unconscious. I stared at her, wondering what she would do if I turned her. My mouth thinned. _I don't care if she hates me for doing it, I'm not losing her. I refuse to._ I moved her neck to the side, trying to bite, but the shield flared, slamming me back and stinging my mouth. _NO!_ I lunged again. _NO!_ "I won't let her die!" I snarled, silently begging her ancestors to understand. _I won't!_ I tried to bite again and again, until my mouth was bleeding from the rebound.

I stared at her, pulling her into a more comfortable position on my lap. Bloody tears fell down my face. _She can't die. She can't._ My mind was in denial. Her breathing was so faint, so very faint. _No…_ She couldn't leave me yet. I had so much more to tell her, show her, teach her. She had so much more to teach me. "Please…" I whispered, rocking her, begging for the first and last time in my life. _Please…I don't care what it takes…don't let this happen…_ No answer. Her breath eased out, but didn't slide in again. Her heart thumped to a slow stop, two hollow beats. I was holding a corpse.

_**Oh, I'm mean. CLIFFHANGER OF EPIC PREPORTIONS! You all hate me, don't you? *laughs hysterically* I'm so evil! She's fine! (possibly) I figured he was going to need some inside help, and it is clearly show Anderson has a soft spot for kids. Good job xVentressx, you are no longer a heretic. The rest, still heretics. WATCH THE SHOW. Is very good, better than Hellsing. (Sorry guys, but it is) FOOLS! Hehe, Excalibur moment. He's just such a freak! Do I need to lure you in with something? Okay, I will. *thinks for a moment* At DeathWeaponMeisterAcademy, (DWMA) there's a bunch of kids who run around chopping bad guys (Kishin) into little bits. The Kishin eat normal people's souls, usually after murdering them, and then they get all big and evil and scary and the rest of it. They have red souls, normal people and meisters have blue souls, (there are some differences) and witches have purple souls. (Souls are floaty orbs that come out after you've killed someone) Witches are, obviously, witches who use magic and stuff. They're also inherently sneaky and evil. Here are the characters:**_

_**Maka Albarn: Sycthemeister, (wields a scythe), bookworm, main character.**_

_**Soul (Evans) Eater: A scythe (some people can transform into weapons here), Maka's weapon partner. Obsessed with being "Cool".**_

_**Blackstar: This guy is loud, noisy, and a showoff. Despite that, he's actually a good guy to have on your side. (People say he's probably related to Naruto, but I haven't seen that so I don't know)**_

_**Tsubaki: Blackstar's polar opposite, nice, in a quiet way, a bit like a really shy Seras. Can do multiple weapon forms.**_

_**Death the Kid: The Grim Reaper's son (Lord Death). He is obsessed with symmetry, and has comedy breakdowns to that effect.**_

_**Liz and Patty: Twin pistols. Kid holds them upside down, for some unfathomable reason. *shrugs***_

_**Spirit Albarn: This guy is a WOMANIZER. He broke up with Maka's mom a few weeks before the anime started, and is constantly after other women. He still tries to be a good dad to Maka. (And usually fails miserably, she hates his guts)**_

_**Lord Death: the Grim Reaper, squeaky voice, exaggerated movements, and REAPER CHOPS! They hurt a lot. Favorite form of punishment, head of DWMA. (Complete polar opposite of Integra, he's never serious)**_

_**Franken Stein: Whacko nut job, goes crazy several times in anime. He's got a giant bolt through his head that he turns to help him concentrate, and stitches all over himself. Oddly, he's the strongest meister in DWMA history. Death Scythe's (Spirit) old partner. (He's a lot like Alucard, right down to the creepy laughs)**_

_**Medusa: crazy snake witch who's been killed twice. (She came back the first time) Might have a thing for Stein, but was never confirmed. Almost succeeded in destroying the world. (They fixed it)**_

_**Crona: A subject of intense debate among fans. Girl or boy? We shall never know. (Personally, I think he's a guy) He's got black blood, and its name is Ragnarok! Has serious emo issues. (Catch phrase is "I don't know how to deal with [insert something, anything really]")**_

_**Ragnarok: bully, domineering, injures his host, and a bit of a pervert. Incredibly powerful, before he got chibied by Lord Death. Now he loves candy, but still kicks but. **_

_**Excalibur: the Holy Sword, and he is WHACKO! Most powerful weapon in existence today, but you really have to work at it to be his meister.**_

_**Convincing enough for ya? There are tons more interesting characters, but I'm going to have to wait and explain them in my Soul Eater fanfic. Watch the darn thing already! Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien!**_


	28. Chapter 28

_**I fix, don't worry. Flamelalchemist103, you really shouldn't watch scary movies at night. I never have that problem, because watching a horror movie/thing/show knocks me out. The scarier, the faster I'm asleep. It really sucks, because I never get to see the ends! But it has made you watch Soul Eater. I have done my sworn duty and lured more people in to join the cult. (It's **__technically __**not one, but whatever. People obsess over it, and they think anyone who hasn't seen it is a heretic. Cult. Animes do that.) So I'll stop babbling now and fix Zara for you guys!**_

_Zara's POV:_

_This place is cold and unreal._ And it was. I would have shivered, but I didn't have a body to shiver with. Or any skin. I tried waving a hand in front of my face, only to note I didn't have a hand to wave, or for that matter, a face. _Creepy…I wonder where I am. This isn't like how being dead was before. Am I still alive?_ I wondered idly how many times I had almost died, or died in actual fact. _Seven, eight counting right now. Alright God, I still have a cat life left. Gimmie._ Strangly, there was no answer. _Hello? In case you people haven't noticed, there's a saying, it's "cat's have nine lives" I'm part cat. I have used up eight of my lives. Ergo, I still have a place to be. And it ain't death, or heaven, or wherever I am now._

Complete and utter silence. I thought hard. _HELLO!? Oh Omnipotent Being in Charge of All, who's about to get kicked in the unmentionables, you have exactly three seconds to tell me how to get back to life, or put my there yourself. One. _No answer. _Two…_ A flicker of light, like a spark, but no other reaction. _Three. You asked for it._ "Wait!" The voice was panicky, female, and vaguely ethereal. If I had a mouth, I would have scowled. _What?_ "You can't go back yet!" The voice said, and I saw a bright figure drifting towards me. _First, why not, and second, who the heck are you?_ She was close enough for me to make out details, and what I saw was a secretary-looking woman, wringing her hands.

"Your body can't support you right now. There is only so much you can take. I'm just a spirit in charge of these things." Okay, not having a body was really starting to bug me. The impulse to scowl and tap my foot was like a physical itch, one I couldn't scratch. _Fine then. Exactly how soon will it be until I can go back?_ She took a deep breath."Several hundred years, if my estimates are correct." I tried to gape in shock, but not having a mouth was preventing that. _SAY WHAT!? Okay lady, I have a kid and a…whatever you call Alucard-_I was a little unsure of that-_In the real world and I am not waiting several hundred years to come back to life! Got it?_

She shrugged helplessly. "That's the way it is. I can't change that." I tried sighing, but that wasn't working for me either. _Lady, I'm going to go back to life, and you can't stop me. Any helpful suggestions, or are we done here?_ She blinked. "Um, nothing much. Just, ignore all the visions. They're pretty messed up." _Right. Ignore visions, wake up, continue life. Got it._ I was suddenly transported to a place full of color, and there were a bunch of tiny gremlins things bouncing around me. "What the-" I said, but they interrupted me. "We are the spirits of you daggers! We are the Clinks!" One landed on my shoulder. "I am Clink!" Another pushed him off. "I am Clink!" he said. They others joined in. "I am Clink!" "I am Clink!" "I am Clink!" "I am Clink!" "I am Clink!"

"SHUT UP!" I roared, whishing I had a body to stomp on them with. At least now I could talk. They all stared at me, until another bunch of dagger-spirit-things came around a corner. "CLONKS!" they screamed, charging at them. "CLINKS!" they replied, charging at them as well. They smashed together, biting and tearing at each other viciously. Random words and insults reached my ears.

"I artichoked a ukulele hamster!"

"Potatoes!"

"Your mother was a washing board!"

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty!"

"Thirty Hundred throat cutters!"

"I'm a little tea pot, short and stout, here is my handle…"

"I can burp the ABC's!"

I stared at them. _Weird…_ I jerked forward, reminding myself that I wanted to get out and find my body. They all stopped, staring at me. Then they all broke off their fight and rushed towards me, screaming "CLANK!" I sprinted away, thankfully outrunning the little hobgoblins. _What the heck is going on!?_ I hit a wall, but went right on through, plunging into water. _What now?_ I struggled to the surface, but it felt like all those creepy sprites were hanging on me. I looked, but it was just me into the water. _So tired…I don't want to get to the surface that much, do I?_ I shook my head, moving faster. I still wasn't physical, and I couldn't feel arms or legs or anything, but it felt like my bones were melting.

I burst through, gasping in air, feeling suddenly much more energized. Then I realized my eyes were closed, and I opened them. To my joy, I now had arms and legs and a body and all that nice stuff. Sure, I was covered in blood, but it was still a body. I was lying across Alucard's lap, and he was staring at me. "I'm fine, now about Jackal-gak!" he squeezed my in a hug, pulling me close. I wiggled, gasping and hearing my bones creak. "Alu…card…can't…breathe…" I choked out, and he let go. I heaved in oxygen, thinking to myself. _Damn vampire super-strength._ I glared at him. "Now, if I can get a word in edgewise, we need to-mumph!" He yanked me to him again, kissing me hard.

Under ordinary circumstances, I might've liked it. But we really needed to find Jackal. So instead I thought at him fiercely. _Alucard, I missed you too, but we need to go get Jackal. Plus, I'm kinda running out of air._ He growled, pulling back. "Fine, but I expect full details later, as well as compensation." He whispered in my ear, and backed away even further. I tried standing up, to find that I was not only fine, but feeling great. "Right, so now we go save Jackal, kick Maxwell's but, and get home in time for supper." I said firmly, marching towards the door. Alucard grabbed my shoulder and turned me around. "They went this way kitten." I glared at him, correcting my course. "Well, I was just dead. I can't do everything." I said in annoyance.

_Jackal's POV:_

I stared at Maxwell, who was shouting at his subordinates. He had killed mommy. He had _laughed_. My hands shook with suppressed rage. Father Anderson was sitting next to me, keeping watch. "I know its hard laddy." He said sympathetically. "Just, try to calm down, let it flow. Anger won't do you any good at this point." I stared at him for a moment, then took a deep breath and let it out slowly. _He's right, you know._ Schrödinger's voice echoed in my head. _Blind rage von't do anything but get you killed. Now, focused rage, that's a different thing. Whose orders got you kidnapped?_

I stared at Maxwell's back. _His._ Schrö prompted me more. _Who ordered them to shoot that stuff at your mother? _I growled low in my throat. _He did._ He grinned. _Und who killed your mother?_ I bared my teeth. _HIM! _Schrö did a fist pump_. Ya! Now, sic 'em! Tear him to bloody shreds!_ I flinched. _I can't do that!_ Schrödinger banged his head against a wall. _Nein, nein, nein, nein, NEIN! You need to take him out!_ I shook my head rapidly. _No. Nein, whatever you were saying._ He sighed, but didn't say anything. That was because daddy's voice suddenly roared out of the darkness "ISCARIOT! YOU WILL PAY JUDAS PREIST!" Father Anderson stood up, flicking bayonets out of his coat sleeves.

I stared at daddy as he emerged out of the shadows. He was so angry, I could practically feel it in the air. Part of me wanted to watch more, but my attention was drawn by Maxwell. _C'mon… c'mon…_ Schrö urged in my head, and I pushed him away. I heard gunshots, but they were distant compared to the pounding blood in my ears. I crept forward, hiding in the shadows whenever possible. I was so close to Maxwell, who was staring at daddy and Father Anderson, that I could see the faint sheen of sweat on his face. Schrödinger seemed to suddenly come to what little senses he had. _The neck. The spinal cord, windpipe, all the rest of it. That's where it's easiest to kill. Aim there._

I took a deep breath, then lunged. I hit Maxwell's leg, but bit down, tasting warm blood. I let go and spat it out, repulsed by the disgusting taste. His hand was shooting towards me, and I scuttled over to his stomach, and bit down hard, again. He screamed and I moved out of the way, biting whatever I could reach, the sour reek of his blood covering the inside of my mouth. I made it to his neck and opened my mouth as wide as I could before chomping down on his neck. He screamed again, shouting for help, before managing to rip me off. A lot of flesh and blood sprayed out with me.

I hit the ground with a thud, scuttling away to a safe distance. I looked back at him, and almost gagged. He was covered in bite marks and blood, swaying on his feet. He slowly, almost imperceptibly spit out a thin trickle of blood. Then he fell over, hitting the ground with a wet crunch. I was caught up by a pair of arms, and I heard momma's voice say soothingly. "Shhhh. It's alright Jackal. Look away. Shhhh." I buried my face in momma's hair, inhaling as much of her scent as I could. "Momma?" I asked shakily. She stroked my hair, rubbing my ears and rocking me. "I'm here. I'm fine. Shhhh." I heard a growling sound, and momma jerked away from something. "Alucard!" she shouted, running for daddy and Father Anderson, who were punching each other.

They both turned, and Father Anderson went white. "By God!" he swore, reaching inside his coat again. Daddy smirked, reaching for us and pulling us away from him. "Nicely done." He said, rubbing my ears as well. I looked over momma's shoulder, and froze. Maxwell was staggering towards us, growling. His hair hand fallen around his shoulders and he was still covered in blood and bite marks. I whimpered, burying my face in momma's shoulder again. Father Anderson walked over to him, drawing a bayonet. "Amen!" he shouted, and sliced Maxwell's head off. I crossed myself clumsily. "Amen." I said, my voice shaking slightly. He looked at me in surprise.

"Well, I'm off." He said, walking towards us. He looked at me. "Despite you being a little heathen, not to mention a vampire, you've grown on me laddy. Keep to the holy ways, and you'll go far." He tossed me his cross, then walked away. Daddy drew one of his guns, but I reached over and stopped him. "He's okay." I said, glancing at Father Anderson. I put the cross on, noting that it reached all the way down to my waist. Momma ruffled my hair. "What day is it?" she asked daddy, leaning on his shoulder. He shrugged, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Tuesday." She blinked. "Techno and Soarece's wedding! It's tomorrow! I don't have a dress!" Me and daddy stared at her, then burst out laughing.

_Zara's POV:_

I smiled as charmingly as I could, and mentally cursed Soarece inside my head. She insisted on me being the maid of honor, which meant doing exactly what she said, wedding-plan wise. That meant that not only was I in front of everyone, I had an extremely revealing dress, that she said was necessary to her "flow". It was a lovely wedding otherwise, one with much kissing, laughing, and sunshine. Seras, due to her amazing vamperic skills, caught the flowers, and everyone immediately looked at Pip, who blushed. Jackal, due to some last minute planning, got to be ring bearer, and was in his little minnie Alucard outfit. Sadly, after the ceremony, there was the inevitable dancing.

I danced with Adit, who was best man, and then immediately slunk out of sight. _I hate dancing, and everyone stares at me, and I hate this dress, and I hate being the center of attention._ I was about to continue with my hate list, but I was suddenly stopped by a very familiar pair of arms, placed on my shoulders. "Would my lady care to dance?" Alucard said with a wicked twinkle in his eyes. I glared at him, willing all of my power in a shrivel-up-and-die glance. His smirk only widened, and he pulled me into the dance anyway. After five seconds, every single blasted eye in the place was fixed on us, and I mentally swore to get him back for this.

"You seem uncomfortable." He said smoothly, hiding a smirk. One of his hands began inscribing small circles on my back. My shoulder twitched, but I managed to control myself. "Step in front of a bus." I said crossly, stamping on one of his feet. With his cursed natural grace, he avoided the blow. In revenge, his thumb rubbed on the bare skin of my shoulder slowly. My whole body twitched this time. "Stop it." I growled, trying to maintain my cool. "There are young people here, namely my son." He sighed and stopped, but slyly added "You still haven't compensated me for dying." I scowled. "I'm working on it."

His gaze wandered over to Soarece and Techno, both of whom were completely engrossed with their spouse's eyes. "We should do that." I blinked, confused by the topic jump. "What?" I said, feeling particularly slow. He flashed his teeth at me in a toothy smirk. "Get married." I stared at him for several seconds. "I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I could have sworn you just asked me to marry you." He shrugged, phasing backwards so suddenly I fell. He caught me, but we were now in a completely different part of the building, namely, his basement room. "Are you saying no?" he said, sitting down on his coffin. I rubbed my upper arm.

"Umm…" I said, shuffling my feet. "Maybe? In a few years?" I squeaked softly, blushing red. He grinned. "Excellent. I can't wait. Now, there's one more thing." I frowned. "What?" He stood up, backing me into the wall. "You haven't slept in a coffin yet, and I won't always be sleeping in a bed." He said, grinning. I caught on, and glared at him fiercely, grabbing onto his chair. "NO." He smirked and grabbed my hand, easily dislodging the other and phasing us into his closed coffin. I struggled, but my field of movement was limited, especially since he was on top of me. He waited until I stopped, then pulled me around so I was laying on top of him, facing down.

Surprisingly, the coffin wasn't as cramped as you might think. "So?" he purred, rubbing my back. I almost arched, but forced my spine to remain flat. "I hate you, you know that?" I said, slamming my forehead against his chest. He shrugged. "As long as we're clear. Oh, by the way, I told Soarece and Techno that we were going somewhere all night, leaving the impression of a date. So you won't be going anywhere until morning kitten."

_3__rd__ Person's POV:_

Jackal crept into his father's room. He taped a small, handwritten sign on his coffin. It read, in crayon "Do Not Disturb." He crept back out, heading for the party. _I hope mommy doesn't hurt him too much. I wonder what I can buy with ten whole dollars!_ Zara thumped against the lid, but he was already too far away to hear her. Silence resounded in the stone room, but not for long. "Stop touching my dress!" a feminine voice shouted, loud enough to be heard through the thick wood. A low male voice answered her, but whatever it said wasn't enough. "You put me in here wise guy, so don't get smart with me!" she said loudly, and there was a thump.

Another thump followed, and then there was a muffled curse. "Now look what you did. This isn't going to blow over well with Soarece. She liked this dress." The male voice spoke again, clearly amused. "Yeah, I can say I fell down. Great excuse. Hey, hands to yourself! Alucard, get your hands out of my dress, or so help me I will castrate you." The male voice sighed, for once making a sound loud enough to echo into the bigger room. "No buts mister. And no, your hand did not just "slip into" the tear by accident. You were smiling. Don't look so shocked, I saw you."

_Zara's POV:_

He smirked, shrugging. I sighed, putting a hand to the six-inch long tear in my tear, starting just above my hips and going down to my knees. Alucard's hand appeared next to mine, rubbing it softly. I looked up to see his contented face. "How often are you going to stick me in here?" I whined, as he sewed the cut up with a shadow-thingy. He smirked. "Once a week at least." He said, clearly pleased with the whole thing. "I refuse to spend a single night without my mate." I rolled my eyes. "And what about poor Jackal? He'll have to sleep alone…all by himself…" Alucard blinked. "He's going to sleep alone anyway. Or would you rather have both of us in the bed with you?"

I sighed. "Fine, fine. Jerk. What's so appealing about me anyway?" He rubbed my back, and I flinched, holding back a purr. "Vampires, as you know, don't have their own body heat. You literally warm me up. It's like sleeping with a warmed blanket or some such. Very relaxing." He said carelessly. I rolled my eyes. "Whatever. Freak. I hope you can knock me out or something, because I'm not sleepy at all." He grinned. "What if I don't want you sleeping?" I twitched all over at the thought. "Eww. Still a teenager, still off-limits in that regard." He sighed, and then stared into my eyes. I blinked, feeling very warm and sleepy. I let my head fall down on his chest, purring just a little.

He wrapped his arms around me, and I purred slightly louder, but was already drifting off to sleep. _Final recap of the day, Techno and a vampire got married, I got to be maid of honor at a wedding, Seras and Pip are fated to get married soon, Alucard proposed to me in a roundabout way, and he forced me to spend the night in his coffin, with him. Not bad, not bad. The next few years are certainly going to be interesting._ I yawned, stretching a little. _One wonders what kind of wedding Alucard will make me do. I hope it's not __**too**__ embarrassing._ That was my last thought before I drifted off to sleep, already trying to face the future head-on.

_**I didn't mean for it to end this chapter, but apparently it does, because I have no intention of writing this any further. (sorry guys) I think it wraps it all up in a nice little bow. (I purposely left some things unended, because I need material for my oneshots) Look for my next fanfics, both Soul Eater, and Hellsing! I'm thinking of calling the Hellsing one "Hellsing Cats oneshots, before, during, and after" *shrugs* I like it. Soul eater name is still undecided, but I'm posting the first chapter today! (Go look) Review, Request, Rcomment. Auf Wedersien! Thank you for reading!**_


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